They're really not. Matrilineal is not the same as Matriarchal.
The idea that only children of a Jewish mother are Jews is not only an idea they rarely adhere to in modern times, but its goal is not to keep power among Jewish women - did you ever see a female Rabbi? When you walk into a Jewish neighborhood, did you ever see groups of women discussing politics on a street corner? No, you saw men, every time.
The purpose of matrilineal descent is to incentivize Jewish males to marry within the tribe and stay away from those dirty shiksas. Keeping Jewish females in the tribe is easier than keeping the males in - men are biologically incentivized to wander and spread their seed. The only reason a woman wanders is if she perceives the men of her own tribe as being less dominant than those of another.
Thus, matrilineal descent is really about restraining the male sex drive rather than empowering women.
They're really not. Matrilineal is not the same as Matriarchal.
The idea that only children of a Jewish mother are Jews is not only an idea they rarely adhere to in modern times, but its goal is not to keep power among Jewish women - did you ever see a female Rabbi? When you walk into a Jewish neighborhood, did you ever see groups of women discussing politics on a street corner? No, you saw men, every time.
The purpose of matrilineal descent is to incentivize Jewish males to marry within the tribe and stay away from those dirty shiksas. Keeping Jewish females in the tribe is easier than keeping the males in - men are biologically incentivized to wander and spread their seed. The only reason a woman wanders is if she perceives the men of her own tribe as being less dominant than those of another.
Thus, matrilineal descent is really about restraining the male sex drive rather than empowering women.