How do Jewish men treat women?

Answer 1

Jewish answer:In traditional Judaism, the husband is seen as the head of the household. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that thousands of years before other societies had done so, the Torah established rights for women, and the Torah-sages urged us to honor and respect our wives (Talmud, Bava Metzia 59a).

• Israelite women could own property, could initiate court cases, could have their own servants, and could own fields and businesses.
• The Torah specifies marital rights for women (Exodus 21:10); and any husband who anguishes his wife can expect Divine punishment (Talmud, Bava Metzia 59).
• Several women achieved prophecy (Talmud, Megillah 14a).
• One of the Judges, Deborah, was a woman. Together with another woman named Jael, she brought about a great victory against Canaanite oppressors (Judges ch.4).
• A circumspect husband will seek out the advice of his wife (Genesis 31:3-16), because she can be trusted to supervise the goings-on in the home (Proverbs 31:27), just like a Chief Executive Officer.
• The righteous among the Jewish people treasure their wives (Proverbs 31:11); as Rabbi Akiva (2nd century CE) said, "All that I accomplished (in Torah) is hers (is thanks to her)" (Talmud, Ketubot 63a).

Catholic Answer

A Catholic man should be instructed during pre-Cana classes (the instruction before marriage) that marriage is a sacrament in which he will work out his salvation. He must see his wife as Christ, and will be working out his salvation by treating her as he would Our Blessed Lord. The Catholic man is head of the household, which means that the final decision is up to him; however, in considering his wife as Christ, he would normally make no decision that would deliberately distress his wife or in any other way demean her. This from the Catechism:

2363 The spouses' union achieves the twofold end of marriage: the good of the spouses themselves and the transmission of life. These two meanings or values of marriage cannot be separated without altering the couple's spiritual life and compromising the goods of marriage and the future of the family.

The conjugal love of man and woman thus stands under the twofold obligation of fidelity and fecundity.

1606 Every man experiences evil around him and within himself. This experience makes itself felt in the relationships between man and woman. Their union has always been threatened by discord, a dspirit of domination, infidelity, jealousy, and conflicts that can escalate into hatred and separation. This disorder can manifest itself more or less acutely, and can be more or less overcome according to the circumstances of cultures, eras, and individuals, but it does seem to have a universal character.

1607 According to faith the disorder we notice so painfully does not stem from the nature of man and woman, nor from the nature of their relations, but from sin. As a break with God, the first sin had for its first consequence the rupture of the original communion between man and woman. Their relations were distorted by mutual recriminations; (CF. Gen 3:12) their mutual attraction, the Creator's own gift, changed into a relationship of domination and lust; Cf. Gen 2:22; 3:16b) and the beautiful vocation of man and woman to be fruitful, multiply, and subdue the earth was burdened by the pain of childbirth and the toil of work. (Cf. Gen 1:28; 3:16-19).

Answer 2

They're supposed to treat them with respect. Unfortunately, there ARE abusive Jewish men.