curt ruling includes neither censoring of the husband’s conduct, nor any
expression of empathy for the plight of the woman. Maimonides’ habit-
ual broadmindedness and daring legal thinking disappear here, giving
way to rigid legalism.
Maimonides’ profound suspicion of women refl ects not only the philo-
sophical and medical traditions, but also his own ascetic inclinations. He
repeatedly expresses the view that the sexual impulse is a disgrace to us,
“for we have it in so far as we are animals like the other beasts, and noth-
ing that belongs to the notion of humanity pertains to it.”^143 He fi rmly
opposes anything that might awaken this bestial desire. He thus bans pub-
lic per formances of music, with or without singing, particularly if they
are accompanied with drinking, and if the singer is a woman,
for it has been patently proven that the divine intention regarding
our nation was that we shall be holy, and that every act or saying of
us will be in perfection or one that leads to perfection; we were not
meant to awaken the faculties that prevent all good, nor to abandon
ourselves in merriment and frivolity.^144Maimonides associates women with these base, bestial faculties, and
therefore even their hardships and anxieties, which are apt to trigger
harmful superstitious behavior, do not earn his compassion. He thus no-
tices the special role that women play in witchcraft in the Sabian litera-
ture.^145 He then fi nds in the Scriptures a confi rmation that witchcraft is
indeed notoriously the domain of women, and he reads the Scriptures as
a warning against the natural tendency to be lenient toward the deli-
cately nurtured:
And inasmuch as in all these practices the condition is posed that for
the greater part they should be performed by women, it says [Ex.
22:17]: “Thou shalt not suffer a sorceress to live.” And as people
naturally feel pity when women are to be killed, it also states specifi -
cally with regard to idolatry [Deut. 17:2]: “man or woman” and
again reiterates [Deut. 17:5]: “Even the man or the woman... .” The
reason for this is to be found in the fact that naturally women often
inspire pity.^146Maimonides’ passion for eradicating idolatry is of course not limited to
women; but whereas manifest idolaters were hard to come by in his
(^143) See, for example, Guide 2.36 (Dalala, 262:9– 14; Pines, 371).
(^144) Responsa, 400.
(^145) Guide 3.37 (Dalala, 396:28; Pines, 541). See also D. Schwartz, Astral Magic in Medieval
Jewish Thought (Ramat Gan, 1999), 92, 95 [Hebrew].
(^146) Guide 3.37 (Dalala, 397:10– 15; Pines, 542).