The Role of Women in Hasidic Judaism

In keeping with Hasidic tradition, men and women are rarely seen together outside the home, and they never touch in public. Men are also separated from women in the synagogue, on buses and during wedding celebrations. Outsiders may think women have a subservient role, but Shterna, Toby, Chaya and Brocha, four Hasidic wives and mothers, tell Oprah that women are the foundation of the home and equal partners.