Nadene Goldfoot
From the time of Abraham when he married Sarah, a man's male line was determined by the male. The question must have come up; "Who is a Jew?" His son was the father of Jewish children, etc. Our religion was inherited, father to son throughout the families. At this time, men were also allowed to take more than one wife at a time just as Jacob took 2 wives and their handmaidens or 4 wives.
Then came the time when they realized that they could only tell if a child was legitimate was knowing who the mother was. They usually could be there during the birth. They also could see that the children's knowledge came from the teachings of the mother, as well, since fathers were either out defending the family or working for the family. The mother had the love, time and patience to teach Judaism to their children.
Biblical literature listed names of people along with their father's name, making it easier to trace the male line. The keeping of a family genealogy tree was easier with this knowledge. So a child could be David, son of Moshe. A few times one also saw the mother mentioned.
This means that the biblical families were all patriarchal. They royal family line of Judah with kings David and son Solomon, son Rehoboam (933-917 BCE) down to Zedekiah (597-586 BCE) were all led by the fathers. Who was your father? That was important. The independent Judean monarchy ended in 586 BCE when the Kingdom of Judah was conquered by the Neo-Babylonian Empire, led by King Nebuchadnezzar II. This followed the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of many Judeans to Babylon.
This didn't stop women from participating. Deborah(1150 BCE) was a famous judge and leader of the army. Israelites had judges before they had kings. It was she who roused the Israelite tribes to revolt under Barak, son of Abinoam against the Canaanite king Jabin of Hazor and Sisera, his ally and commander (Judg.4).Barak son of Abinoam was a key figure in the Book of Judges, a leader of the Israelites during the Judges period who is celebrated for his role in defeating the Canaanites. He is known for his military prowess and his obedience to Deborah, a prophetess and judge who guided him.
The song of victory is attributed to her in Judge 5 and is regarded as one of the oldest compositions preserved in Hebrew. Deborah was also the nurse of Rebekah (wife of Isaac) (daughter of Bethuel) and (mother of Esau and Jacob; twins) and is buried beneath a tree known as Allon-Bacuth (Gen.35:8). In her regular time she was a prophet. This woman was everything! Jewish women try to live up to their 4 icons; Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and Leah. Deborah is much admired also.
In 70 CE, Judea was not ruled by a king, but instead by a Roman province, and the destruction of the Second Temple occurred during the First Jewish-Roman War. While the Herodians ruled Judea before that time, the region was under Roman control, and the title of king was not held by anyone in 70 CE. The Roman province of Judea was administered by a procurator appointed by Rome. Herod I or Herod the Great (b: 72 BCE)was a Roman Jewish client king of the Herodian kingdom of Judea. He is known for his colossal building projects throughout Judea.
Around 1000 CE, Rabbeinu Gershom, a prominent Ashkenazi Jewish scholar, decreed a ban on polygamy. While the Torah does not explicitly forbid polygamy, Gershom's decree became the standard practice in Ashkenazi communities and is still observed today. Although some Sephardic communities continued to allow it for a time, the ban became widespread and is now the norm across all Jewish traditions. So it took at least 800 years for men to find out that one is a Jew if themother was Jewish in order to maintain a Jewish line.
The brit milah (bris) is when a Jewish boy receives his Hebrew name and is circumcised on the 8th day of life. The circumcision is performed by a mohel, and this mohel has a special cover for the chair of Elijah.
In Judaism, a child is traditionally considered Jewish if they have a Jewish mother. This rule of matrilineal descent has been the standard in Orthodox and Conservative Judaism. However, some more liberal Jewish movements, like Reform and Reconstructionist, have adopted a broader definition, considering a child Jewish if they have at least one Jewish parent and are raised as Jewish.
The shift from patrilineal to matrilineal descent in Judaism occurred in late antiquity, roughly between 200 and 300 CE. This change was likely influenced by Jewish laws adapting to the Roman legal system. Orthodox Judaism continues to adhere to the principle of matrilineal descent.
When mothers took over the education, there was education. The children's behavior reflected what Moses taught.
The Yiddishe Mama, carried little of the negative cultural weight of the Jewish mother and was celebrated in the shtetls of Eastern Europe and the American immigrant neighborhoods at the turn of the 20th century. The Yiddishe Mama was a balabusta, a sentimentalized figure, a good mother and homemaker, known for her strength and creativity, entrepreneurialism and hard work, domestic miracles and moral force. If the Yiddishe Mama was anxious, this was to be expected—after all, who could blame her? Centuries of anti-Semitism plus the challenges of immigrant life justified her intense mothering style and lionized her willful ways. The Yiddishe Mama reminded Jews of the Old World and was synonymous with nostalgia and longing.
"My Yiddishe Momme," which translates to "My Jewish Mother," is a Yiddish song that became a popular American song in the early 20th century. It's a heartfelt expression of love and appreciation for mothers, often used in vaudeville and sung in both Yiddish and English. The song gained popularity after being performed by Sophie Tucker, who also sang the song in both Yiddish and English, according to Wikipedia. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=triCX77tl8s Sophie Tucker
Resource:
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
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