And with all the limbs of my (female) body, That You alone created. You gave 252 Commandments To Your children Israel to carry out, And 248, that must be observed and kept, As many as men have parts of their body. And You have given to women, To correspond with our four limbs, Four Commandments of our own: To kindle lights for the holy Sabbath, To purify ourselves from impurity, To divide the khale dough, And fourth, to serve our husbands. And You have given a further 365 Commandments To Your children Israel which they are forbidden to perform.
tkhines Amertedam, 1648
('People of the Body' Howard Eilberg-Schwartz)
In the 17th century, Tkhines, or prayers that were primarily developed for Jewish women, by Jewish women, developed, including speculation on the spiritual dimension of the feminine form. They compare the 248 males organs (corresponding to the torahs positive mitzvot) to the additional feminie ones.
Chava Weissler, an expert on tkhines, observes that the male rabbinic tradition "collapses all women into Eve" and makes much of the association between sin and childbirth. The tkhines that seem to be authored by women, in contrast, plead for the health and safety of mother and infant and address the question of suffering. Weissler observes that attention is paid to "the physical discomfort, pain, and danger women experience in menstruation and childbirth. The authors of the tkhines want to know why women suffer, not why they bleed."
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