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Rabbi slams use of hyphenated last names

Zomet Institute head says 'feminist trend' of women preserving their maiden name undermines family values

"A hyphenated last name for women undermines family values," head of the Zomet institute Rabbi Yisrael Rozen writes in an article to be published in the Shabbat Beshabbato leaflet this weekend.

 

In his article, Rozen maintains that the custom of preserving the woman's maiden name alongside the husband's name creates "a slippery slope" that could lead to giving different surnames to the children in the family.

 

"I don't consider myself a full-fledged conservative, but I completely object to feminism when it hurts family values, and it does!" Rozen states.

 

"It is clear to me that a hyphenated name for married woman is just the beginning of the process. There are already women who keep their maiden mane alone, as if saying, 'Marriage is only a secondary aspect of life,' 'Who needs to know that I'm married,' and 'This is an invasion of privacy.'"

 

This ideology, says the rabbi, "Is wrapped up in nice words to appear as egalitarianism and a preservation of personal identity."

 

'Family should have one head of family'

Rozen claims that he sympathizes with women's desire to preserve a link to their familial heritage, and the need of career women to maintain their reputation, but adds that the trend is founded on "a feminist message which strays from the patriarchal tradition and makes a statement that women are not the husband's property."

 

However, he says that the harm done to family values is evident. "The tradition and heritage of a family unit includes the role of head of the family. Those who give up this component take part in the trend of shattering family values."

 

The right thing, Rozen concludes, would be to "return to family tradition in which each woman has her first name and each family has its one, and only, name."

 


פרסום ראשון: 12.26.07, 15:25
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