PunkTorah

Independent Jewish Spirituality Online

  • Convert to Judaism
  • Online Rabbinical Program
  • Donate

A Call To Action (Parsha Naso)

May 30, 2014 by Patrick Beaulier

shutterstock_56489245

Defiant women, jealous husbands, and occultish rituals mark this week’s parshah, Naso. Following an accusation of adultery by a husband with no proof, a woman was brought before a Temple priest to undergo the enigmatic ordeal of bitter water. If she were innocent, she would survive and bear children. If she were guilty, she would not.

“The priest shall bring her forward and have her stand before the Lord,” our Torah describes. “The priest shall take sacral water in an earthen vessel and, taking some of the earth that is on the floor of the Tabernacle, the priest shall put it into the water. After he has made the woman stand before the Lord, the priest shall bare the woman’s head and place upon her hands the meal offering of remembrance which is a meal offering of jealousy. And in the priest’s hands shall be the water of bitterness that induces the spell. The priest shall adjure the woman, saying to her, ‘if no man has lain with you, if you have not gone astray in defilement while married to your husband, be immune to harm from this water of bitterness that induces the spell. But if you have gone astray while married to your husband and have defiled yourself, if a man other than your husband has had carnal relations with you -’ here the priest shall administer the curse of adjuration to the woman, as the priest goes on to say to the woman – “may the Lord make you a curse and an imprecation among your people, as the Lord causes your thigh to sag and your belly to distend; may this water that induces the spell enter your body, causing the belly to distend and the thigh to sag.’ And the woman shall say, ‘Amen, amen!’ (Numbers 5:16 – 22).

The entire experience would have been one of intense emotional turmoil. Such a woman, known as a sotah, would first confront the suspicions of a jealous husband and then endure the public shaming which undoubtedly accompanied a formal accusation. She would have been forced to appear in her community’s most sacred space in a state of humiliation, choke back the dust of the Temple floor, and wait for her body to respond. Our Torah offers no recourse for women who suspect their husbands of infidelity, nor advice to the husband who has wrongly accused his spouse.

Today, the majority of Jewish women worldwide do not define their existence exclusively by marital status or reproductive capacity. We do not put women on trial because their husbands are abusively possessive. We know infertility is not divine punishment. In the west, though we continue to navigate both covert and subtle elements of a patriarchal paradigm, we are closer to gender equality than ever before. Women of other cultures, however, are forced to endure the attitudes exemplified by this week’s parshah. Recently in Sudan, Meriam Ibrahim was sentenced to death both for adultery and for renouncing a Muslim identity. In both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, adultery remains punishable by death. In Somalia, a woman may be stoned if found guilty of infidelity and in Bangladesh, a woman may be publicly flogged.

I choose to read the above passage as a call to action. The description of ritualized misogyny is a reminder that such practices still exist. For me, parshah Naso recalls the powerful words of Devarim. “Justice, justice shall you pursue, that you may live and inherit the land which the Lord your God gives you” (Deuteronomy 16:20). My duty to God is my obligation to my sisters and brothers in our shared human family. Grateful for the privilege and freedom I enjoy as an American Jewish woman, I have the power to effect change for my sisters. This week’s parshah provides an opportunity to reflect on the evolving sphere of women in Judaism, as well as the current experiences of women worlds away from our own communities.

Akiva Yael is an enthusiastic participant in all that is holy, including Torah study, powerlifting, and the beauty of our world.

Filed Under: Jewish Text (Torah/Haftarah/Talmud), LGBTQ & Women Tagged With: convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, jewish women, naso, online conversion, Parsha Naso, parshah naso, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, sota, sotah, women

Pluralistic Rabbinical Seminary: Online Rabbinical Program

Through our relationship with Darshan Yeshiva, we are supporting the launch of Pluralistic Rabbinical Seminary (PRS), what we hope to be the very best in practical, distance learning based rabbinical education. What do we love about this project? PRS is the only rabbinical school … [Read More...]

Now Hiring: Rabbis, Educators & Creatives

Rabbis Sought Want to work one-on-one as a rabbi, educator and mentor for an organization that is growing by leaps and bounds, utilizing new models of Jewish community as well as the latest learning technology? Darshan Yeshiva is currently searching for rabbis to be part of our growing … [Read More...]

Become a Jewish Spiritual Leader

Our online leadership school, Darshan Yeshiva, teaches you everything you need to know to become a Darshan, a lay Jewish spiritual leader serving unaffiliated communities all over the world. There are so many Jews out there who need community, but for whom there will never be a … [Read More...]

PunkTorah Inc.
PO Box 1641
Midlothian, VA 23113

questions@punktorah.org
YouTube
Facebook

Read our DMCA notice

Search the PunkTorah Blog Archive

What We Do

Pluralistic Rabbinical Seminary: Online Rabbinical Program

Now Hiring: Rabbis, Educators & Creatives

Become a Jewish Spiritual Leader

  • Jewish Text (Torah/Haftarah/Talmud)
  • Judaism & Belief
  • The G-d Project Videos
  • Podcasts & Videos
  • NewKosher (Recipes)
  • Converting To Judaism
  • LGBTQ & Women
  • Shabbat & Holidays

Copyright PunkTorah Inc.© 2023