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Women Testifying

Question

Why can’t a woman testify in court?

Answer

The halacha disqualifies various classes of people from being judges or witnesses, but these disqualifications are not all for the same reason. A person who is in a position to give testimony about a case is required to appear in court; thus if a woman’s testimony were acceptable, she could be forced to appear in court. [Similarly, a king cannot serve as either a judge or a witness.] Thus women are restricted for a constructive reason: to avoid interfering with their more important responsibilities. These disqualifications apply only to matters that require appearance in court; a woman’s testimony is perfectly acceptable in matters involving religious law (issur ve-heter). The source that disqualifies women from testifying in court is Deut.19:17, which refers to people who appear in court as “men”. The fact that a woman’s testimony is valid in religious matters that don’t involve a court is derived from Lev. 15:28, which says that a woman can count unclean days for herself.

Follow-up question

Question

My follow up is that it seems unjust that a woman’s testimony wouldnt be heard in something like a capital case, especially if she saw something to turn around the case. Could you please explain a little further? thanks so much

Answer

Allow me, please, to offer a different perspective on why women do not testify in a Jewish court. Perhaps this will enable you to understand why they do not testify even in capital cases.
The Maharal of Prague, author of many works on Jewish belief and understanding, shares his perspective on gender distinctions. He explains that the female side of creation represents the aspect of potential, whereas the male side represents taking that potential and developing it into something actual.

Testimony before a court is an act of making something real before those who are hearing the case. As such it is an inherently male activity, and not a female one. It is for this reason that women are not testifiers even when someones life is on the line. The function of testifying does not relate to their gender.