Everyone,

Tikkun is sponsoring a teleseminar on this article in just a few minutes. I'm kind of late getting to it, but I thought I'd post a heads-up in case anyone is interested.

Phone forum info

--Linda

Does this have to do with figuring out which pronoun to use for God? (He? She? It? )

quote:

Originally posted by Henry J:
Does this have to do with figuring out which pronoun to use for God? (He? She? It? )

Henry,

Yes it does. I did listen to it and it was pretty interesting. I just wish I'd had the nerve to speak up during the comment period, because if anyone else did address the point I wanted to make, they weren't as emphatic about it as I would have been. It's easier for me to do that in writing than on the phone when I think other people are more knowledgeable than I am.

First of all, why is this a problem? Mostly it's because Judaism, even more than Christianity, insists that God is beyond gender, and not only that but beyond *ALL* anthropomorphisms whatsoever. Anthropomorphism is considered the equivalent of idolatry.

At least that's the "official" theological position. The facts on the ground are very different. The traditional language of prayer, just like the language used about God in the Bible, is extremely anthropomorphic, and not only that but extremely and exclusively MALE. God is routinely addressed as Father and King, etc.

Well, about 40 years ago a bunch of Jewish feminists decided they didn't like the exclusively patriarchal language, since it reinforced the lived reality of Judaism as "a man's religion" and they were sick and tired of it. Believe me, I KNOW the feeling! Furthermore, there was no good reason for it, since Judaism officially rejects all anthropomorphism about God, including but not limited to gender.

So they began experimenting with revising some of the traditional prayers to address God as "She," as Mother and Queen, etc. They did this with the Hebrew as well in English translation. After all, since God is beyond gender, "She" is just as arbitary as "He," right? Well, people found it incredibly disturbing, and after 40 years they are STILL uncomfortable addressing God that way.

So this teleseminar was an exploration as to why this was so and what could be done about it. Nobody ever came up with a definitive answer to the question, but the hypotheses were pretty interesting.

--Linda

Henry and everyone,

If you're interested, you can listen to previous Tikkun phone forums here. The one I listened to last night isn't up there yet, but it should be in a few days. Right now I'm listening to the one called "Healing in Community" with Lauren Richelt.

--Linda

Henry,
     I learned about the seminar too late to listen in, but I imagine some of it was about feminizing the names of God since Hebrew nouns and pronouns have gender.
Seán

Everyone,

Here's a wonderful semi-related article I just discovered on the Examiner website, thanks to my FB friend, the Gnostic high priestess Rosamonde. I'm posting it here because I'm too lazy to start a new thread about it, although I may do that later on. I'm going to post the link first and connect the dots later (how the article relates to Judaism and to sacred pronouns). By the time I get around to following up on this, I may have figured out what the connection is...if I'm lucky anyway.

--Linda

Gnostic women leaders and heroines, part 1

Gnosticism has no shortage of enigmatic heroes (or antiheroes, for Orthodoxy). The Gnostic sagas contain a rich variety of male protagonists that include Simon Magus, Jesus Christ, Saint Paul, Marcus the Magician, Valentinus, Doubting Thomas, and perhaps Judas Iscariot. Yet outside of Mary Magdalene and Sophia, little attention is given to the other Gnostic women leaders that both defined and promoted its holy heresy.

But there is a wealthy tradition of Gnostic women leaders with complementary and equal roles to their masculine counterparts (and sometimes superior roles). Like Mary Magdalene and Sophia, these females are both saviors and saved, virginal and sensual in complex levels, and connected equally with The Eternal Realm and the cosmos itself.

The first part of the article deals with the mythical and supernatural heroines of Gnosticism, while the second installment will focus on the historical and New Testament heroines of Gnosticism.

The earliest Gnostic woman leader would undoubtedly be Eve, also referred to as Zoe (both names meaning ‘life’ in Hebrew and Greek respectively). Unlike The Old Testament, Eve is actually superior to Adam, attested in such texts as The Secret Book of John and On the Origin of the World. She is a direct avatar of Sophia. Eve not only grants true immortality to Adam but instructs him on the truth of the prison called The Garden of Eden. In On the Origin of the World, Adam even admits ‘You shall be called “Mother of the Living”. For it is you who has given me life!’

Eve continually spoils the cruel games and slave-fate of the Creator God. In one grisly scene, she creates a clone of herself that is violently defiled by Jehovah and his angels. The clone gives birth to Cain and Abel, while Adam and the true Eve conceive the first Gnostic and reoccurring savior of humanity—Seth.

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