Contents. Bereshit / Genesis

Transcription

1 Index by Author xv Acknowledgments xix Introduction xxi Rabbinic Commentators and Midrashic Collections Noted in This Anthology xxvii Bereshit / Genesis Haftarat Bereshit: Isaiah 42:5 43:10 Rabbi Amy Joy Small Haftarat Noach: Isaiah 54:1 55:5 Rabbi Jill Hammer Haftarat Lech Lecha: Isaiah 40:27 41:16 Rabbi Sue Levi Elwell Haftarat Vayera: II Kings 4:1 37 Rabbi Paula Jayne Winnig Haftarat Chaye Sarah: I Kings 1:1 31 Rabbi Beth Janus Haftarat Toldot: Malachi 1:1 2:7 Rabbi Carol E. Stein Haftarat Vayeitze: Hosea 12:13 14:10 Rabbi Kathy Cohen Haftarat Vayishlach: Hosea 11:7 12:12 Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin Haftarat Vayashev: Amos 2:6 3:8 Rabbi Hara E. Person vii

2 Haftarat Miketz: I Kings 3:15 4:1 Rabbi Zoe Klein Haftarat Vayigash: Ezekiel 37:15 28 Rabbi Marsha J. Pik-Nathan Haftarat Vayechi: I Kings 2:1 12 Rabbi Amber Powers Shmot / Exodus Haftarat Shmot: Isaiah 27:6 28:13; 29:22 23 Rabbi Sharon Brous Haftarat Va-era: Ezekiel 28:25 29:21 Rabbi Andrea Carol Steinberger Haftarat Bo: Jeremiah 46:13 28 Rabbi Denise L. Eger Haftarat Beshalach: Judges 4:4 5:31 Rabbi Deborah J. Schloss Haftarat Yitro: Isaiah 6:1 7:6; 9:5 6 Rabbi Shira Stern Haftarat Mishpatim: Jeremiah 34:8 22; 33:25 26 Rabbi Lori Cohen Haftarat Terumah: I Kings 5:26 6:13 Rabbi Elisa Koppel Haftarat Tetzaveh: Ezekiel 43:10 27 Rabbi Alison B. Kobey Haftarat Ki Tissa: I Kings 18:1 39 Rabbi Valerie Lieber Haftarat Vayakhel: I Kings 7:40 50 Rabbi Danielle Leshaw Haftarat Pikudei: I Kings 7:51 8:21 Rabbi Y. L. bat Joseph viii

3 Vayikra / Leviticus Haftarat Vayikra: Isaiah 43:21 44:23 Rabbi Tina Grimberg Haftarat Tzav: Jeremiah 7:21 8:3; 9:22 23 Rabbi Elaine Rose Glickman Haftarat Shimini: II Samuel 6:1 7:17 Rabbi Julie Wolkoff Haftarat Tazri a: II Kings 4:42 5:19 Rabbi Mary Lande Zamore Haftarat Metzorah: II Kings 7:3 20 Rabbi Rochelle Robins Haftarat Acharei Mot: Ezekiel 22:1 19 Rabbi Nina H. Mandel Haftarat Kedoshim: Amos 9:7 15 Rabbi Rona Shapiro Haftarat Emor: Ezekiel 44:15 31 Rabbi Rachel Esserman Haftarat Behar: Jeremiah 32:6 27 Rabbi Nancy Wechsler-Azen Haftarat Bechukotai: Jeremiah 16:19 17:14 Rabbi Hanna Gracia Yerushalmi Bamidbar / Numbers Haftarat Bamidbar: Hosea 2:1 22 Rabbi Rachel Leila Miller Haftarat Naso: Judges 13:2 25 Rabbi Judith Z. Abrams Haftarat Behalotecha: Zechariah 2:14 4:7 Rabbi Margot Stein ix

4 Haftarat Shelach Lecha: Joshua 2:1 24 Rabbi Pamela Wax Haftarat Korach: I Samuel 11:14 12:22 Rabbi Barbara Borts Haftarat Chukkat: Judges 11:1 33 Rabbi Vicki Lieberman Haftarat Balak: Micah 5:6 6:8 Rabbi Jane Kanarek Haftarat Pinchas: I Kings 18:46 19:21 Rabbi Susan P. Fendrick Haftarat Mattot: Jeremiah 1:1 2:3 Rabbi Rachel R. Bovitz Haftarat Ma asei: Jeremiah 2:4 28; 3:4 Rabbi Jennifer Elkin Gorman Devarim / Deuteronomy Haftarat Devarim: Isaiah 1:1 27 Rabbi Analia Bortz Haftarat Va etchanan: Isaiah 40:1 26 Rabbi Sheryl Nosan-Blank Haftarat Ekev: Isaiah 49:14 51:3 Rabbi Lynne A. Kern Haftarat Re eh: Isaiah 54:11 55:5 Rabbi Joanne Yocheved Heiligman Haftarat Shoftim: Isaiah 51:12 52:12 Rabbi Cindy Enger Haftarat Ki Tetze: Isaiah 54:1 10 Rabbi Vivian Mayer Haftarat Ki Tavo: Isaiah 60:1 22 Rabbi Shoshana Dworsky x

5 Haftarat Nitzavim: Isaiah 61:10 63:9 Rabbi Laura Geller Haftarat Vayelech: Isaiah 55:6 56:8 Rabbi Susan Gulack Haftarat Ha azinu: II Samuel 22:1 51 Rabbi Elizabeth W. Goldstein Haftarat V zot Habrachah: Joshua 1:1 18 Rabbi Nancy Rita Myers Special Shabbatot Haftarat Shabbat Rosh Chodesh: Isaiah 66:1 24 Rabbi Ilene Schneider Haftarat Shabbat Shekalim: II Kings 12:1 16 Rabbi Stacia Deutsch Haftarat Shabbat Zachor: I Samuel 15:1 34 Rabbi Karen Soria Haftarat Shabbat Parah: Ezekiel 36:16 38 Rabbi Mira Wasserman Haftarat Shabbat HaChodesh: Ezekiel 45:16 46:18 Rabbi Helaine Ettinger Haftarat Shabbat HaGadol: Malachi 3:4 24 Rabbi Michelle Missaghieh Haftarot for Days of Awe Haftarah for the First Day of Rosh Hashanah: I Samuel 1:1 2:10 Rabbi Serena Raziel Eisenberg Haftarah for the Second Day of Rosh Hashanah: Jeremiah 31:1 20 Rabbi Linda Bertenthal xi

6 Haftarah for Shabbat Shuva: Hosea 14:2 10; Joel 2:15 27; Michah 7:18 20 Rabbi Jessica Locketz Haftarah for Yom Kippur Morning: Isaiah 57:14 59:4 Rabbi Ilana Berenbaum Grinblat Haftarah for Yom Kippur Afternoon: The Book of Jonah Rabbi Myriam Klotz Holiday Haftarot Haftarah for the First Day of Sukkot: Zechariah 14:1 21 Rabbi Chana Thompson Shor Haftarah for Shabbat Chanukah: Zechariah 2:14 4:7 Rabbi Sharyn H. Henry Haftarah for the First Day of Pesach: Joshua 3:5 7; 5:2 6:1; 6:27 Rabbi Linda Joseph Haftarah for the First Day of Shavuot: Ezekiel 1:1 28, 3:12 Rabbi Shaina Bacharach Five Megillot Shir HaShirim: The Song of Songs Rabbi Rachel Sabath-Beit Halachmi Megillat Ruth: The Book of Ruth Rabbi Barbara Rosman Penzner Eicha: The Book of Lamentations Rabbi Melinda Panken Kohelet: Ecclesiastes Rabbi Laura M. Rappaport Megillat Esther: The Book of Esther Rabbi Karen L. Fox xii

7 Special Additional Selections Bathsheba: II Samuel 11 Rabbi Jessica Spitalnic Brockman Michal: I Samuel 18:17 29; I Samuel 25:44; II Samuel 3:13; II Samuel 6:20 23 Rabbi Beth L. Schwartz The Prophetess Huldah: II Kings 22; II Chronicles 34 Rabbi Karyn D. Kedar Judith and the Story of Chanukah Rabbi Shoshana Boyd Gelfand Delilah: Judges 16:4 31 Rabbi Debra Orenstein The Witch of Endor: I Samuel 28:3 28 Rabbi Geela Rayzel Raphael Jerusalem as Woman in the Book of Ezekiel Rabbi Dianne Cohler-Esses and Rachel Jacoby Rosenfield The Woman of Valor: Proverbs 31:10 31 Rabbi Wendy Spears Psalm 23 Rabbi Devorah Jacobson Notes Glossary Bibliography and Suggested Further Reading About the Contributors xiii

8 RABBI ILENE SCHNEIDER Haftarat Shabbat Rosh Chodesh Isaiah 66:1 24 For as the new heaven and the new earth Which I will make Shall survive by My will declares YHVH So shall your seed and your name continue. And new moon after new moon, And Shabbat after Shabbat, All flesh shall come to worship Me said YHVH. (ISAIAH 66:22 23) TRY TO IMAGINE: a pitch-black night, with no light pollution to dim the stars. The Milky Way is a carpet of pinpoint bits of light. Low in the eastern sky is the merest sliver of a crescent moon, the same moon that two weeks earlier had been a glowing disk, bright enough to cast shadows; the same moon that had waned and disappeared, only to appear again, miraculously, as it did in its predictable four-week cycle. Now, try to imagine how such a phenomenon must have seemed to our ancient ancestors, who had no inkling that the earth was not the center of the universe, or that the surface of the moon was as solid 259

9 SPECIAL SHABBATOT as the earth, or that we would someday walk on it and dream of living there. The rotation of the moon around the earth, while not understood in the scientific terms we take for granted today, was well observed by ancient peoples. It was a constant in their lives, and a natural focal point for them to use to organize their lives, both ritual and mundane. Most calendars, from the Incan to the Celtic to the Babylonian, were predicated on the lunar cycle. Today, both the Jewish and Muslim religious calendars are still lunar-based. The importance of the new moon can be seen in the Muslim symbol of the crescent moon and in the monthly recitation of the Rosh Chodesh haftarah (Isa. 66:1 24) on the Shabbat before its expected appearance. At first reading, there is little that Isaiah says that defines Rosh Chodesh as a day special to women. Indeed, there is little, until the end of the haftarah, that even connects his theme with Rosh Chodesh. At the beginning of the haftarah, Isaiah rails against pride, hypocrisy, and insincerity. He decries those who believe that a humanbuilt Temple is greater than anything God could create: YHVH said: The heavens are My chair And the earth is My footstool: Where could you build a house for Me, What place could serve as My dwelling? My hand made all these things, And so it all came into being declares YHVH. (Isa. 66:1 2) He continues with a screed against those who bring sacrifices but do not truly repent: As for those who slaughter oxen like killing humans, Who sacrifice sheep as though they were breaking a dog s neck, 260

10 Haftarat Shabbat Rosh Chodesh Isaiah 66:1 24 Who present the blood of swine as an offering, Who offer incense but worship false gods Just as they have chosen how to act And take pleasure in their sacrilege So I will choose to taunt them, To bring on them the very thing they fear. For I called and no one replied, I spoke and no one paid attention. They did what I deem evil And chose what I do not want. (Isa. 66: 3 4) The connection with Rosh Chodesh is made at the end of the haftarah, in a message of hope for the future: For as the new heaven and the new earth Which I will make Shall survive by My will declares YHVH So shall your seed and your name continue. And new moon after new moon, And Shabbat after Shabbat, All flesh shall come to worship Me said YHVH. (Isa. 66:22 23) In between these two sections are passages that ask the people to be patient, and that assure them that all will be well eventually. It is in these passages that we can see a link between women and Rosh Chodesh. Isaiah uses the metaphors of childbirth and maternal comfort to console the Israelites: Before she went into labor, she was delivered; Before her pains came, she bore a son. Who ever heard the like? Who ever witnessed such events? 261

11 SPECIAL SHABBATOT Can a land pass through suffering In a single day? Or is a nation born All at once? Yet Zion went into labor And immediately bore her children! Shall I who bring on labor not bring about birth? says YHVH. Shall I who cause birth shut the womb? said your God. Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, All you who love her! Join in her jubilation, All you who mourned over her That you may suck consolation to the full from her breast, That you may draw glory to your delight from her bosom. (Isa. 66:7 11) It is interesting that the images Isaiah chose to assure the Israelites that they had not been abandoned by the Divine, that they would once again be a great nation in a land of their own, are the images of a woman in labor who later nurses her child. It is in these passages that we can glimpse what may be the remnants of earlier fertility rites linking the new moon with a woman s monthly cycle. The phases of a woman s body were as predictable as the appearance of the phases of the moon. As remarkable and mystical as it seemed to the ancients for the moon to disappear and reappear every month, equally remarkable was the ability of women to bleed without being in mortal danger. An interesting phenomenon called synchronous menstruation has been observed among women who live or work in close proximity. It was first substantiated by researcher Martha McClintock of the University of Chicago in Women have long noted that female family members, roommates, dorm mates, work colleagues, and cloistered 262

12 Haftarat Shabbat Rosh Chodesh Isaiah 66:1 24 nuns tend to menstruate at the same time. In a tribal society, where proximity was a necessity for safety as well as cohesion, the women would have all menstruated simultaneously, at the same phase of the moon every four weeks, adding to their mystery and mystique. Indeed, the very words themselves menses, menstruation, month come from the Latin word for moon. In many ancient civilizations, the moon was personified as a goddess. The Aztec moon goddess is shown as cradling in her arms a rabbit, a fertility symbol in many cultures, including Christian. The Greek Selene, who bore fifty mortal daughters to her human lover Endymion, is sometimes identified as Apollo s twin sister Artemis, the goddess of fertility and childbirth, who is often depicted with a crescent moon above her forehead. The Roman Diana is goddess both of the moon and of fertility and childbirth. The Babylonian moon goddess Anunitu later became merged with the Sumerian Ishtar, who, among her many other attributes, was the goddess of love and fertility. Modern pagans and Wiccans have continued this tradition, with rituals timed according to the phases of the moon. One pagan resource Web site is called Moon Goddess Circles, another the Women s Moon Hut, which describes itself as a place for women on their moontime to come for rest, reflection, and sisterhood. Many other sites connect fertility and the moon. In Judaism, too, from our earliest traditions, women have been associated with Rosh Chodesh. According to the Talmud (Megillah 22b), women are exempt from work on Rosh Chodesh, just as though it were a Shabbat or Yom Tov. In his commentary on this talmudic passage, Rashi explains that women are exempt from spinning, weaving, and sewing, because these were the activities that women contributed to the building of the mishkan. Midrash Pirkei De Rabbi Eliezar (chap. 45) explains that women have been rewarded with a special holiday once a month because they refused to contribute their gold jewelry to the building of the golden calf. Today, Rosh Chodesh celebrations and study groups for women have become part of Jewish expression throughout all facets of our 263

13 SPECIAL SHABBATOT community, from the most traditionally observant to the most devoutly New Age. Most of the groups incorporate prayer, study, and discussion in their celebrations of the new moon. Some are organized by synagogues or other educational institutions and have a curriculum and plan that is followed every year. Others are more spontaneous. In all cases, these Rosh Chodesh groups have reinvented and revitalized the idea of Rosh Chodesh as a women s holiday. The earliest commandment given to the Israelites in Exodus 12:1 2, even before they left Egypt, was to determine the new moon of the month of Nisan, and to use that date as the beginning of the year. Although we celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the new year, in the fall month of Tishrei, it is the spring month of Nisan that determines our liturgical calendar. We cannot know if the Sages selected this passage as the one to be read on Shabbat Rosh Chodesh in order to remind women that the new moon is a holiday specific to them. One suspects that the choice was made because of the closing passages, and because of the message of optimism it brings along with the returning of the moon. But as women, we can look at these lines as ones that do celebrate our uniqueness. Even those who have not borne children, through choice or through circumstance, can find resonance in passages that connect us with the natural rhythms of time. Each month we can remember that it is woman alone who has the ability to continue the miracle of creation. 264