Parashat Vayera 5765/2004
EJD
The weekly reading for the week of 15 Heshvan, 5765 - October 30, 2004 Parashah: Vayera Genesis 18:1 to 22:24; Haftarah: 2 Kings 4:1-37; Mei Kituvim: Proverbs 8:1-36; Brit Chadashah: Luke 1:26-38
The Bagel: Ancient Jewish Feminism. This is sort of a misnomer. Feminism is a relatively recent phenomenon and hence could not be said to be ancient without being anachronistic. By "Jewish" is meant a continuum of ancestry from Abrahamic times to the present in the historical people of Israel. There are traces of a favorable view of women found the texts of this week's parashah.1 These women were not seeking rights per se, but rather their lives form expressions of an incredible feminine dignity.
Torah:
Genesis 18:1 to 22:24. In Parashat Vayera, there is an important literary structure that enhances the already embedded feminine association found in the combination of readings found in this week's Torah portion and the Haftarah reading. The focus of the two readings is on Sarah and the Shunammite woman. This focus becomes enhanced in the Torah portion by a literary structure known as "enveloping" or "book ending" of a given text. The classic example of this structure can be shown by the phrase found at the beginning verse and at the ending verse of Psalm 8: "O LORD, our Lord, How majestic is Your name throughout the earth" (Tanakh JPS). This phrase encloses the text as a literary device for emphasizing something.
The literary envelope for Parashat Vayera is found at the beginning of Genesis 18:6 and at the end with Genesis 22:24. What is emphasised is a focus on women. In Genesis 18:6 Sarah, is a woman performing an activity, and in Genesis 22:24 is Rivka (Rebeca) emphasised in the midst of a list of mostly men. It is interesting to note that the next time Rebeca is mentioned is in a similar activity. She fetched water for Eliezer's camels. Sarah fetched food for Abraham's guests. Thus there is a sort of literary code here to emphasise the importance and dignity of these women. This implies a Biblical dignity for all women that would be transmitted by the Jewish people as they conformed to the Biblical ethic.2
It is noteworthy that Sarah is the focus as much as Abraham in this reading. The child of promise could not be apart from Sarah. Sarah's fate is the fate of redemption. If Sarah does not give birth, then Israel hangs in doubt and the future of the world is uncertain. There would be no messiah without Sarah's participation.
Haftarah:
2 Kings 4:1-37. In the Haftarah reading, we learn of another woman who struggled to raise a family. She like Sarah was incapable of having children and her husband was old. However, she was a prominent woman. She had faith to perceive the importance of Elisha as a man of G-d. She exercised her G-d-given power of appeal. She asked her husband permission to host this prophet in their home. She learned the advantage of working with authority structures to fulfil her appointed role. Her appeal to her husband was a round-about appeal to Adonay. She respected the position of her husband and the prophet and his helper Gehazi stayed in their home.
She was rewarded with their presence. Adonay had another reward. For the Elisha had been informed by Elohim to tell her that she would indeed give birth within the year. And so she did and the child grew. But then came the second great struggle, the sudden death of her son. Note how in the emergency the exercise of her faith enabled her to almost ignore the authority-structure protocols. Much like an ambulance can exceed the speed limits in order to service an emergency, so she moved quickly to get to the top, to Elisha. In her distress she asked permission of her husband, but when questioned she persisted on leaving right away and did. Then she rode straight to the prophet, but first she was encountered by Gehazi. When approached by Gehazi, she answered him in a way that enabled her to bypass him and go straight to Elisha. She fell at the feet of Elisha in the greatest example of the power of appeal. Can it be said that this was like entering into the Kodesh Ha Kodeshim, the Holy of Holies? She was appealing directly to G-d through Elisha. Adonay honored her faith and the boy was raised from the dead.
Mei Kituvim:
Proverbs 8:1-36. In the reading of the Kituvim, is a prime example of the feminine in Hebrew poetry. One of the divine attributes, Wisdom, is portrayed in the feminine gender: "Doth not wisdom call, and understanding put forth her voice" (Proverbs 8:1 JPS HOLY SCRIPTURES 1917). This Wisdom seeks humanity like a woman seeking men at the gates of the city, urging them with her power of appeal to partake of her glorious bounty. Not only does this Wisdom dialog with humankind, but she interacts in conversation with Elohim in his role of Creator. She said: "I was there when He set the heavens into place; When He fixed the horizon upon the deep" (Proverbs 8:27 Tanakh JPS).
Brit Chadashah:
Luke 1:26-38. When we get to the Brit Chadashah, the account of Miriam's struggle over the implications of the birth of the Messiah is overcome by her stronger faith. She received the news of this birth by Gabriel an Archangel. This was to be the greatest of miracles. She will have a child as a virgin. Her response to Gabriel: "Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38 NASB). She went on to have the child, even in the midst of ridicule by those who didn't accept the miracle as authentic.
Hers is the example of the ultimate dignity of women. She is the successor to Eve in the Garden. Where Eve failed, Miriam succeeded. Eve's succumbing to temptation and tempting her husband to sin has been the bane on women ever since. But Miriam makes up for all that. In her suffering, and she did suffer, as a godly man named Shimon (Simeon) said to her at Yeshua's Brit Milah: "....a sword will pierce even your own soul" (Luke 2:35 NASB), but in her suffering she remained faithful. Thus she become a great figure in the history of the Christian church and representative of G-d's design and purpose for women. Think of it, the two greatest Jews in history are a man and a woman. Yeshua Ha Notzi Jesus of Nazareth and Miriam His mother.
Cream Cheese: The most beautiful and expensive cosmetic is faith in the heart of a godly woman.
1 Feminism, especially in its more radical expressions, can be perceived as an almost reverse of the traditional view of gender roles. That is, that women are somehow superior to men, therefore women should subsume the roles that tradition has accorded men. In a more balanced view of gender roles other elements within the Feminist movement lay stress on an equality of being, an equality of role, and thus an equality of opportunity. Without placing value on the Feminist movement either pro or con, the point of this discussion is that there are emphases on women in the text that suggest a more favorable climate for women in the Biblical tradition then was found in the surrounding cultures of ancient Biblical times. But there needs to be a caution to not read too much modern feministic presuppositions into the text.
2 There were problems in Jewish history. For example, there are citations in Talmudic literature that suggest a less dignified approach toward women, but these can easily be read out of context or anachronistically. Even if proven conclusively, this would reflect an aberration rather than the norm garnered from the Biblical standard.
The weekly reading for the week of 15 Heshvan, 5765 - October 30, 2004 Parashah: Vayera Genesis 18:1 to 22:24; Haftarah: 1 Kings 4:1-37; Mei Kituvim: Proverbs 8:1-36; Brit Chadashah: Luke 1:26-38
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