Courtesy of Irving Howe's World of Our Fathers

The cultural reverence for religious study among men allowed women to dominate the secular aspects of shtetl life. Women were expected to raise children and take care of the household chores. They also frequently managed the family’s financial affairs. This was considered to be a cultural norm so that worries about fiscal matters would not interfere with the time that their husbands could spend in pursuit of their studies. Thus, women commonly provided income for their families, particularly in families that were wealthy enough to allow the husband to devote his time entirely to study.

Many women worked as vendors in the marketplace, ran stores, and even independently traveled to other shtetls when their businesses made it necessary to do so. Since most women were not able to rigorously study Hebrew, their knowledge of local dialects, Yiddish, and the vernacular was usually more extensive than that of their husbands. This provided an advantage for them in communicating with local peasants and other Jews in matters of commerce.

Quotes on family roles in the shtetl can be found here.

At the same time, women did not have much influence in religious matters. Since most women only were able to learn the most rudimentary forms of Hebrew, they often were not able to understand the subjects of the sermons during prayer. They were also isolated from male members of the congregation, so they were unable to see the rabbi or the religious ceremony. Nevertheless, they were expected to express their piety and appreciation of the prayers by weeping. The exception to this was the shtetl’s zogerkeh, who was a woman that was able to learn Hebrew and led female congregants in prayer in the synagogue.

Girls in the shtetl were trained to fulfill their domestic roles from early childhood. Unlike their brothers, most girls only attended kheyder long enough to learn enough Yiddish and rudimentary Hebrew in order to read basic Torah passages. The education of most girls was also limited by the need for the girls to help with housework. They helped their mothers complete chores and often took care of younger children. Girls from wealthy families were often married to men who were considered to be great scholars.  This custom occurred because it enabled the girl’s family to advance in its yikhus and assure that their daughter would have a place in heaven by being married to a pious and learned Jewish man. Girls did have an advantage over boys in terms of opportunities to pursue non-talmudic study, since they had the time to learn secular subjects such as music and foreign languages if their families were able to obtain tutors.

Click here to find out more about other gender roles.