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

Parshah Naso: Why Frum Women Wear Wigs

May 13, 2013 by Patrick Beaulier

rupaul001

In most Orthodox communities, married women cover their hair. That can be accomplished my wrapping your hair in a tichel, a Jewish version of the hijab, or wearing a wig.

This week’s Torah portion, Naso, gives the reason why. As Rabbi Wikipedia says:

“According to the Torah, the priest uncovers or unbraids the accused woman’s hair as part of the humiliation that precedes the ceremony testing for an unfaithful wife (Numbers 5:18). From this, the Talmud (Ketuboth 72) concludes that under normal circumstances hair covering is a biblical requirement for women.”

If the Wikipedier Rebbe is right about Parshah Naso, then covering hair for tzniut (modesty) purposes completely flies out the window, because if hair is really sexy, it would make sense for every woman cover her hair and not just the married ladies. So what gives?

The issue from a traditional perspective is one of appropriateness. For example, if you are married, is it [Read more…]

Filed Under: Jewish Text (Torah/Haftarah/Talmud) Tagged With: convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, naso, online conversion, parshah naso, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, sheitl, tichel, tzniut

Parsha Naso: Curbing My Enthusiasm (Num. 4:21 – 7:89)

May 31, 2012 by Jeremiah

Back in the 80s when I was a kid it was called being a worrier. I am a worrier. Then in the 90s worrying became crazy, not mentally ill crazy just crazy. I am a crazy. Now its jokingly referred to as someone who needs to curb their enthusiasm. I am a enthusiast. Naso is a portion many people find confusing. It is arguably sexist and what’s the deal with the ritual of bitter water…seriously what’s the deal with that. All head scratching aside this week’s portion is one where I can literally visualize myself walking around participating in. Not sure what that says about this guy but I just can’t picture myself as a slave in Egypt or as an eye witness at the parting of the Red Sea.

My DNA is programmed with a neurosis that manifests itself in the weirdest and often times the most ridiculous of ways. These [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community Member Blogs, Jewish Text (Torah/Haftarah/Talmud) Tagged With: bitter waters, Circle Pit The Bimah, convert to judaism, curb your enthusiasm, darshan yeshiva, faith, jeremiah, judaism and mental illness, larry david, naso, numbers, Parsha Naso, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, sexism bible

Does The Bible Oppress Women? (Parshat Naso)

June 2, 2011 by Patrick Beaulier

Sex. Lies. Magic Spells. Humiliation…this week’s Torah portion is definitely NSFW.

Without going into all the gory details, Parshat Naso describes how to prove that a woman has cheated on her man. It involves going in front of a temple priest and drinking “bitter waters” made from a mix of water (duh!), dirt and burned parchment which formerly read God’s name. She drinks the water and if she lives, she didn’t cheat. If she cheated…well…you get the drift. Very Salem Witch Trials, if you ask me.

Adultery, in the Biblical sense of the term, is always the burden of the woman. When read literally, Biblical adultery only occurs when a married woman has sex with someone who isn’t her husband. A married man, by that logic, could sleep with any woman he wants provided she isn’t married. That seems a little too convenient if you’re a guy.

Outside of this week’s portion, it could be argued that there is no worse “curse” by the Torah’s standard than being born a girl:

  • Adam is superior to Eve his helper (the term helper in most places in the Torah refers to an inferior helping a superior)
  • Polygamy is a common practice in the post-Creation account, the Patriarchs and in the story of Kings. In addition, men were allowed to keep concubines
  • We cannot know for sure if Sarah giving Abraham permission to sleep with Hagar included any consent on Hagar’s part
  • Lot offered his two virgin daughters to an angry crowd of rapists
  • The wives of slaves remained the property of the slavemaster after a slave was set free in the seventh year
  • Male soldiers can force a captive woman to marry them

There are more passages than this. But you get the drift.

The perceived bias against women in the Torah has made many an atheist. Looking at these passages in a vacuum, it would be clear that the Bible contains a moral code not worth supporting in a modern era — especially if egalitarianism were involved.

The real question is whether or not the Torah is a static document, one frozen in time (as atheists argue) or a living document. My take is the latter. While parshah like Naso and the passages above are unsettling, it’s also worth noting that women have been great political agents (Hebrew midwives outsmarting Pharaoh, Deborah, Rahab, Michal, Huldah, Miriam, Ruth, Esther), have the same status in parenting as their husbands (Exodus 21:15), and have even been instrumental in God changing halachka (see Numbers 27).

The Torah does not give one view of anything. For every commandment that makes God look like a blood thirsty, jealous cult figure, there is another that shows God as the Universalist who loves all of Creation. For every Eve who brings downfall to man, there is an Esther who save us all. For every “you shall” there is a “you shall not”.

The Bible is not the problem. The problem is what we choose to do with it.

Filed Under: Community Member Blogs, Jewish Text (Torah/Haftarah/Talmud) Tagged With: bible and feminism, bible and women, convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, naso, online conversion, parshat naso, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, women in judaism

Parshat Naso

May 19, 2010 by Patrick Beaulier

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRYq-6JRgPk

Parshat Naso really, really bothers me.

First, we have this issue of a wife cheating on her husband. It’s pretty ugly. He gets to take her to the center of the town where she drinks a bitter water that will probably kill her. If she lives, she didn’t sin. If she dies…well…you know. It’s very Salem Witch Trials, and sounds a lot nicer when you hear the Girls In Trouble song about it called, “Secrets/You’re Always Watching”.

Then there’s hippies. No. Really. Hippies.

The Torah talks about something called the Nazarite vow. It’s a vow taken by a person who wants to be “holy”. And they have some pretty interesting rules they have to live by: they have to grow their hair long, they can’t drink wine, they can’t be near a dead body, and they have to offer sacrifices along with going to the mikvah (ritual bath).

Let’s think…wanna-be holy people with long hair who need to take a bath. Hippies!

But here’s the cool thing. Adultery in the Bible is a two-way street. Men can’t cheat and neither can women. And there’s examples of strong female characters like Tamar and Esther who challenge the idea that women were baby-machines-who-better-keep-their-mouths-shut. Though it doesn’t seem like it at times, the Bible is actually pretty egalitarian.

And as for those hippie Nazarite people. Well, they can be men or women! Anyone can take the vow to be a holy person. That says a lot, given the number of religions that teach the superiority of men in the holiness department.

This year it’s especially fitting that Parshat Naso be read during the time of Shavuot, where we see a strong woman against a patriarchal society. The great thing about the Torah is that, just when you think it’s sexist, it turns around and gives you a swift kick in the right direction.

Filed Under: Community Member Blogs, Jewish Text (Torah/Haftarah/Talmud), Podcasts & Videos Tagged With: bible, Counterculture, darshan yeshiva, Israel, Jewish, Jews, Judaism, naso, Parsha, parshah, parshat, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, Punk, punktorah, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, rebel, Religion, Torah

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