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

Adar I: The Lesson of Dinah

January 23, 2011 by Patrick Beaulier

Liminal Space - Photo by MSimonLevin, used by Creative Commons Attribution Permissions

~Excerpt from Adar 1 Guide – Subscribe for Free and Receive the Complete Guide Each Month ~

(From Ketzirah at PeelAPom.com)

Adar I (אֲדָר א) is Dinah’s (דִּינָה) month, at least as far as I’m concerned.  Rabbinical tradition equates Naphtali with both Adar I & Adar II in a leap year, but many modern feminists have argued well that the extra month should belong to Jacob’s daughter, the 13th tribe.  Next month, we’ll talk about Naphtali.  This month, we talk about Dinah.  To be honest, I’ve really struggled with whether or not Dinah should be Adar I or Adar II. I’ve gone back and forth dozens of times.  Even while writing this, I struggled. Right or wrong, I needed to choose.

Dinah is the seventh child of Leah and Jacob, and the only named daughter, although Genesis 37:35 indicates there were others.  Dinah’s name means judgement, but I’ve also seen it as “vindicated.”  Her story is one that few women like to read, at least as it is traditionally interpreted.  In Genesis 34, we read of the “rape” of Dinah. It’s an ugly story with very little redeeming value anywhere.

But what if we look at this through another lens?  The ancient rabbis were famous for finding ways to turn stories to meet their needs.  The interpretations of the stories never seem to let the women be seen in a good light.  Sorry, but it’s true for the most part.  Deborah and Hulda are called “conceited and overbearing” and we’re told they are cursed with ugly names.  Really?  Bee and Cat are ugly names?  What about the tradition of giving children “ugly” names to protect them from the evil eye?  But, I digress a touch…

Adar (both I & II) are months of the moon and lunacy.  Adar I is the month of the Kesilah (כְּסִילה), the clown or trickster, who in leap years steals all our holidays away and hides them in Adar II. The letter of the month is  Kuf (ק), which can be a symbol of and literally means monkey (קוף) — the foolishness we generally associate with Purim.  But in this month, the monkey has hidden our holidays and left us standing in a void.  What if the monkey, the trickster, is asking us stand in the center and take a second look at the story of Dinah?

An amazing article in the Jewish Women Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia points out that the language of rape does not fit the original Hebrew in the story.   As we stand in the void of Adar I in this leap year, I believe the lesson of Dinah is to teach us to read the words anew and look at how those who came before us — and ourselves are influenced by others to interpret situations.  Dinah challenges us to vindicate the women of the Torah by reading their stories with fresh eyes and not layering ancient ideas of women on them.  Dinah challenges to allow the people of Shechem to be the wronged victims here. Is Dinah a victim by just about any reading?  Probably.  But was she a victim of rape or over-zealous violent brothers who did not like the man she chose to marry?

Dinah reminds us that there are at least two sides to every story, and two-thousand interpretations.   She challenges us to stand in the void and center ourselves, and not just take the trickster at her word.

What do you think?

~Excerpt from Adar 1 Guide – Subscribe for Free and Receive the Complete Guide Each Month ~

Filed Under: Community Member Blogs, Judaism & Belief, Purim, Rants Tagged With: 1, adar, calendar, convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, earth based, guide, magical, month, online conversion, pagan jewish, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, women

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