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Bible

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Hebrew Women in Egypt: Midrash and Aggadah

The Rabbis famously maintain that the Israelites were redeemed from Egypt by merit of the righteous women of that generation, who strove mightily to continue to bring forth children, regardless of the grueling servitude and despite Pharaoh’s decree that the male children be killed.

Hebrew Women in the Wilderness: Midrash and Aggadah

The Rabbis portray the women of the generation that wandered in the wilderness as righteous, not caught up in the sins that swept the men of Israel.

Hannah Mother of Seven

The mother of seven is a nameless figure from II Maccabees who was arrested and died along with her seven sons for defying the decree of the Seleucid monarch to transgress the commandments of the Torah. Her death is retold in rabbinic and medieval literature, where she is named both Miriam and Hannah.

Hamutal: Bible

Hamutal was one of the queens of the Kingdom of Judah and had a great deal of influence over her sons’ reigns.

Gomer: Bible

The prophet Hosea uses his adulterous wife Gomer as a metaphor for God as the faithful husband to Israel. Gomer and Hosea’s relationship shows how women were ostracized for extramarital sex while such behavior was tolerated if not encouraged in men, paralleling the relationship between Israel and God. It is difficult, however, to separate historical facts about the couple’s domestic problems from the theological message expressed through them.

Gender Identity In Halakhic Discourse

Jewish law is based on an assumption of gender duality, and fundamental mishnaic texts indicate that this halakhic duality is not conceived symmetrically.

Feminist Theology

Jewish feminist theology focuses on central Jewish categories, themes, and modes of expression—for example, God, prayer, Torah, and halakhah—and asks who created them and whose interests they reflect. It raises meta-questions about Jewish tradition.

Feminine Images of God

Jewish scripture includes few examples of a feminine or woman-personified God. The Hebrew Bible contains limited references to a female personification of God; God is usually explicitly described as a man. Medieval and contemporary theology have largely rejected the idea of divine gender, but some modern feminist theologians have interpreted texts to draw comparisons to the feminine experience.

Female Purity (Niddah)

Halakhic practice for Niddah, or female purity, is based on a harmonistic reading of Leviticus 12,15, 18, and 20. The laws of female purity have been historically used to determine the status of women in a patriarchal society.

Ruth Fainlight

Writer and poet Ruth Fainlight’s work interweaves feminism and elements of Judaism, often using biblical imagery and reflecting on her own Jewish identity and the Holocaust.

Esau, Wives of: Midrash and Aggadah

Esau’s three wives are given more context and background by the rabbis than in the Torah. Esau’s first two wives, Adah and Judith, are described as adulterous and idolatrous, while his third wife, Mahalat, is interpreted as either Esau’s repentance or his fall further into evil.

Drisha Institute for Jewish Education

Drisha was founded in 1979 to provide women with the opportunity to study Talmud and other Jewish texts. It has since expanded to serve students of all genders. Drisha is officially nondenominational but has served as a cornerstone of the Orthodox feminist movement. It has been joined by a number of liberal observant New York institutions that promote intense engagement with Jewish text and observance for women and men.

Divorce: The Halakhic Perspective

Many scholars claim that Jewish marriage is a matter of contract between two willing parties and as a result they, not the state, can decide to get divorced, in the same way that they decided to marry. However, more critically inclined scholars, and especially feminist scholars, take issue with those who complacently remark on the “progressive, and contractual” ease with which Jewish divorce takes place.

Daughters of Zelophehad: Bible

The story of the five daughters of Zelophehad provides legitimation of a limited right of Israelite women to inherit land. The story celebrates women’s boldness and at the same time offers comfort for men who have the misfortune (from the Bible’s androcentric point of view) to have no sons.

Daughters of Lot: Bible

When the men of Sodom demand sexual relations with two messengers from God, Lot offers his daughters instead. The daughters, however, escape with Lot and live in a cave after Sodom is destroyed. There they have relations with their father and give birth to his sons.

Daughter of Pharaoh: Midrash and Aggadah

The rabbis depict the daughter of Pharaoh, who rescued the baby Moses, as a righteous figure who did not follow her father’s wicked ways but rather converted and ceased worshiping idols. She was highly praised by the Rabbis, and the midrash includes her among the devout women converts and those who entered the Garden of Eden while still alive.

Daughters of Zelophehad: Midrash and Aggadah

The midrash rains many praises on the daughters of Zelophehad, describing them all as equally wise and virtuous, as well as exegetes. The midrash also says that they are mentioned by the Patriarchs and are so righteous that they are blessed with children despite their old age.

Creation According to Eve: Beyond Genesis 3

No feminist critic of the Bible has neglected to discuss the story or stories of the creation of woman; yet, despite significant differences in theoretical approach and focus, their readings generally have been confined to Genesis 1–3. Beyond Genesis 3, the matter of creation and femininity is addressed, offering new and complex insights.

Concubine of a Levite: Bible

The concubine of a Levite is offered to a group of Benjaminite men while traveling with her husband and is subsequently raped until she is near death. In retaliation, the Israelites launch a series of attacks on the Benjaminites. The narrative of the concubine is horrifying and shows the chaos of life before monarchial rule was established.

Concubine of a Levite: Midrash and Aggadah

The story of the concubine at Gibeah, who is murdered when her husband sends her out to a crowd of Benjamites, is one of the most shocking narratives in the Bible. The rabbis do not blame the unnamed woman for her fate and the ensuing crisis, instead placing the blame at the feet of the Levite and the leaders of Israel.

Yardena Cohen

Incorporating biblical themes and Sephardic music into her dances, Yardena Cohen helped create a uniquely Israeli artistic culture. Cohen opened her Haifa dance studio in 1933 and maintained it for some seventy years, stressing creative dance. She continued to teach well into her nineties and in 2010 was awarded the Israel Prize for Lifetime Achievement.

Katherine M. Cohen

Katherine M. Cohen was a sculptor and artist dedicated to advocating for equality for women in the arts. Comfortably situated in the community of Philadelphia’s Jewish elite, Cohen created many commissions for the community reflecting Jewish themes and illustrated a Jewish children’s book. Cohen made a speech at the Chicago World’s Fair advocating for the support of artists, and specifically female artists.

Bilhah: Midrash and Aggadah

Bilhah was the maidservant of Rachel and mother of Dan and Naphtali. The rabbis fill in details about her life, her relationship with Jacob, and the confusing incident between Bilhah and Reuben, Jacob’s eldest son.

Bilhah: Bible

Bilhah is given to Rachel as a maid and would later serve as a surrogate mother for Rachel when she could not conceive. Though the story records none of Bilhah’s thoughts or words, she gives birth to two of Jacob’s sons for Rachel, Dan and Naphtali, and is remembered as one of the ancestresses of the Israelites.

Biblical Women in World and Hebrew Literature

The fate of biblical women in post-biblical times has been a reoccurring source of inspiration in world and Hebrew literature. With the rise of feminist criticism, there has been renewed vigor and excitement surrounding interpretation and retelling of biblical women’s stories.

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