momom: Question: Why aren't women and men treated the same in Judaism? Answer: In Torah, a woman has every obligation of a man, and a man every obligation of a woman. Torah doesn't know of man and woman as separate beings. They are a single whole, whether they are cognizant of one another or not. Each act is performed once through a single body. A body that in our world may appear as two, but to the Torah is seen as one. This is actually a statement of Rabbi Isaac Luria, the greatest of the kaballists. He explains that the man and woman are a single body--and that is how they are considered in halacha, as well. So, for example, a woman also puts on tefillin--only that she puts them on with her male body. If everything is working right, that should be her husband.