Plaskow and Feminism in Judaism
A
Paper by Shoeless Wanderer
Please do not redistribute without permission
In
Judith Plaskow’s book Standing Again at
Sinai, Plaskow takes a critical look at Judaism from a modern feminist
perspective. Her book focuses on the three
central components of Judaism, those of
One of the figures that Plaskow recognizes as a key figure in feminist Judaism is the Shekkinah, whose origin is rooted in Kabbalah. To the medieval Jewish mystics the Shekkinah was the female emanation of God, although subordinate to him. On the subject of the Shekkinah Plaskow states “Addressed in myriad personal guises the Shekkinah is also the presence of God in the place called the world…” (165-166) and that “The Zohar…uses extensive sexual imagery to describe the inner life of God, particularly between the ninth and tenth sephirot…through which all the higher sephirot flow into the feminine Shekkinah.” She then goes on to discuss sexuality within the mystic tradition and that “human sexual intercourse…is an imitation…of the reunion of God and the Shekkinah.” Aside from that, nothing more is said. Such as the fact that “In its ultimate development as it appears in the late Midrash literature, the Shekkinah concept stood for an independent, feminine divine entity prompted by her compassionate nature to argue with God in defense of Man” (Patai 137.) The Hebrew Goddess by Raphael Patai gives an excellent history on the concept of development of the Shekkinah, emphasizing that the idea of a female counterpart to God had existed by the end of the Biblical period. Patai cites the concept of wisdom having a feminine connotation, especially in wisdom literature such as Proverbs, as a very early developing point for the Shekkinah. This hypothesis seems stretched at best, but does point out that even in the time of the Bible there was a female element within Judaism that Plaskow has ignored within her own text.
Also of interest
is how the Shekkinah is treated by the rabbis.
Here Patai says “A Talmudic discussion flatly equates God with the
Shekkinah: ‘Rabbi Yose said “Never did the Shekkinah descend to earth, nor
Moses and Elijah ascend to Heaven…Is it correct that the Shekkinah never
descended to Earth? Is it not written
‘And Yahweh came down upon
In many texts the Shekkinah is not only a separate deity from God, but in fact confronts Him on several occasions, such as in an example Patai gives on page 149 from the midrash Mishle where the Shekkinah criticizes the actions of Yahweh. This passage demonstrates that “the idea of two separate divine entities did exist in Talmud times” (149), one of them a very powerful female figure. The fact that this figure also confronts a male God and does not suffer any repercussions also shows that this female deity was considered equal to God Himself. Plaskow’s brief mentions of the Shekkinah in Standing Again at Sinai do not reflect the Shekkinah’s alarming power and equality to the male God at all.
One
other figure with extremely strong ties to Jewish feminism that Plaskow
mentions only in passing is Lilith. Of
Lilith she states “I retain the rabbinic idea that Lilith was banished for
demanding equality with Adam but refuse to judge her as an evil demon...” (54) and
“Jewish mysticism associated the feminine with the demonic, and in Kabalistic
mythology, Lilith and her host of female demons provoke men to improperly waste
their seed” (189.) The story and concept
of Lilith has strong ties to Mesopotamian mythology, as her name is very
similar to the lilitu storm demons found within their culture. (207.) She did not gain much prominence within the
Jewish tradition until the Talmud era in a midrash called the Alpha Bet of Ben
Sira. This tract tells the story that Lilith
was Adam’s first wife. This is made
plausible by the two parallel creation myths in Genesis 1 and 2. While having intercourse Lilith refuses to
take the missionary position beneath Adam, as they were both created at the
same time out of the same material and should thus regard each other as equals
in life and in sex. (Some legends state
that Adam was made of clay and Lilith of silt to isolate the cause of Lilith’s
less than agreeable nature.) The couple
fight and Lilith flees from
Unsurprisingly Lilith was not always viewed in such a positive light. Plaskow mentions that Lilith was “judged as an evil demon” for demanding equality but does not elaborate on what this means. Patai notes that up until the 19th century belief in Lilith was commonplace within the Jewish community. The story of Lilith mentions her power over children and her abilities to harm them. Usually the death of infants or the death of mothers in childbirth were said to be her workings. This part of her story caused Jews to create amulets invoking the names of the three angels sent to fetch her, along with a reminder of her promise in order to keep her from harming mothers and their new born children. These amulets clearly demonstrate the role of Lilith as child killer. . Later mythologies expanded her role to seductress or succubus, blaming her for night emissions. These roles as well as her rejection of patriarchy made her a sort of anti-thesis of the ideal Jewish woman to many people within the earlier Jewish communities. Perhaps this is why the Jewish feminist movement embraces Lilith as such an important figure.
Throughout Standing At Sinai Judith Plaskow attempts to create a feminist understanding of Judaism, one that opens the tradition to modern women with modern concerns while still retaining a Jewish identity. However, Plaskow seems to gloss over important previously existing strong female figures within the tradition. The two she does mention, the Shekkinah and Lilith, have a much greater role in feminist Judaism, as well as the Jewish tradition as a whole, than she acknowledges within her book. While many of her arguments about the three essential components of Judaism are strong, they would be made far stronger by exploring the women already associated with feminist Judaism.
Works Cited
Patai, Raphael. The Hebrew Goddess. Ktav Publishing House, Inc. 137-156, 207-245.
Plaskow, Judith. Standing Again at Sinai.