Feminist Interpretations of Rabbinic Literature: Two Views

Author(s): Charlotte Elisheva Fonrobert and Tal Ilan

Source: Nashim: A Journal of Jewish Women's Studies & Gender Issues, No. 4, Feminist
Interpretations of Rabbinic Literature (Fall, 5762/2001), pp. 7-14
Published by: Indiana University Press
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 FEMINISTINTERPRETATIONSOF
RABBINIC LITERATURE:TWO VIEWS

THE BEITMIDRASH WHICH IS NOT YET

ElishevaFonrobert
Charlotte

Feminist interpretation of the Talmud takes its beginningin two

interrelatedbut differentkindsof recognition. The firstis therecognition
ofwomen'soverwhelming silencein theTalmuditself,as wellas in thelast
one thousandyears of talmudicscholarship.The second is rootedin
reflectionon how theTalmudfunctions in our own culturalimagination,
howit contributes to makingmeaningout ofourJewishidentity today.As
a feminist,one is compelledto ask thisquestionin a gender-specific way,
not merelyin termsof a generic"Jewish"identity. How does talmudic
literaturecontributeto what it means to be Jewishas a woman,or a
womanas a Jew,today?Bothrecognitions haveto be addressedseparately.
As to thefirstrecognition, one classicapproach,learnedfromhistorical
has been to defythe silenceand tracewomen'spresenceand
disciplines,
even voices withintalmudic literature,withinour collectiveliterary
memory. Women'svoicescan be teasedout fromthemultivocality of the
Talmudas a collectivetext. For example, attentionis focused on the few
womenin talmudicliterature knownby name: Beruriah,1 Imma Shalom
and Yalta,2to name but the three most important.Their historicityand the
reasonsfortheirprominence in rabbinicimagination are examined.At the
veryleast,the stories aboutthem raisethe question whether
of womendid
indeedparticipate in rabbinicdiscussions.Moreover,women'svoicescan
be discoverednot only in the narrativematerial,but in talmudic
discussions.For example,the Talmudattributes severalitemsof medical
adviceto Abaye'smother,particularly regardingmidwifery.3 Galit Hasan-
Rokem has collectedsuch statements,includingsome that remained
anonymous, in an anthology ofHebrewfeminist poetry:4

Nashim:A JournalofJewishWomen's Studiesand GenderIssues, no. 4. © 2001 7

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CharlotteElishevaFonrobert,Tal Ilari

How does the unbornlie in its mother?Folded like a writingtablet,

head betweenknees,hands at the sides of the forehead,heels on the
buttocks, mouthclosed,navelopen.It eatswhatitsmothereats,drinks
whatitsmotherdrinksand does notexcreteso as notto killher.When
it leavesherfortheair oftheworldwhatis open closes,whatis closed
opens."5

The more or less implicitoverallgoal of this important approachhas

essentiallybeen to insist that women were in some way part of the
talmudicproject,ratherthanmerelyitsobject- thatJewishwomenhave,
indeed,a history. The promiseofthisapproach,onlypartially has
fulfilled,
been thatwomencan findthemselvesin talmudictextsand appropriate
thesetextsas theirown,"finding friendsamongsthistory's women"6rather
than remainingin the role of spectators.However,even where this
approachmayprovesuccessful, in spiteof itstremendous methodological
it willremaincondemnedto marginality.
difficulties, Individualwomen's
voices threatento drownin the sea of talmudicscholarship,and the
contemporary readeris leftwiththenaggingquestionof whatthegain of
reconstructing sucha voiceultimately mightbe.
Anotherapproachis to investigate the culturaland textualor literary
mechanismsthat contributeto producingand maintainingJewish
women's silence in talmudicliteraturetill the twentiethcentury.By
necessity,thisinvestigation has to be conductedunapologetically in order
to understandhow rabbinictextsworkand striveto constitutereality,
ratherthan merelyreflecting it. Like the previousapproach,this one
privilegesgender as a categoryfor analyzingrabbiniccultureand for
studying talmudictexts.However,it extendsits investigation beyondthe
archaeological task of the
uncovering presence ofwomen and theirvoices.
It studies the ways in which rabbinicculture constitutesimaginary
genderedspaces,primarily the beitmidrash and the home,framedby the
largercontextof diasporacultureand its institutions and spaces,such as
the synagogue,the shuk (market-place), and the Roman and Sassanian
empires.It further studiesthe discursiveand rhetorical means by which
and
masculinity femininity are constituted in rabbinictexts,in relationto
thecentralvalue ofrabbinicculture,talmudtorah(thestudyofTorah),as
well as in relationto the culturalcontextof the Roman and Sassanian
world.Finally,thisapproachmighttakeon thechallengeofanalyzing why

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 Feminist ofRabbinicLiteratuer
Interpretations

talmudicliterature constructs genderthewayit does. To ask "why"rather

than merely "what," even where the "why" cannot definitively be
answered,ultimately aims fora liberatory effect, because it questionsthe
absolute,quasi-naturalized necessity of certaingenderconstellations.
Let me illustratethis last pointbriefly, usingthe exampleof the beit
midrashas the imaginaryand "real" institutional frameof the talmudic
discussion.A carefulreadingof talmudicaggadotfirsthas to analyze
genderedrepresentations of the beitmidrash. Is it to be imaginedhomo-
geneouslymale? If yes, what does "male" exactlymean, and is this
representation contested?The secondstepin the analysismightask why
the beitmidrashis represented as homogeneously male. Is thisis to be
explainedbyreasonsinternalto rabbinicor to thelargerJewishculture,or
do otherfactors, suchas thestatusofJewsas a minority community in the
RomanorSassanianworld,haveto be considered?
Regardlessofhowthesequestionswillbe answered,thislatterapproach
leads us to thesecondrecognition withwhichwe began,namely,thatthe
question of how the study of talmudic literature figuresin Jewishidentity
today needs to be a gender-specific question.This is perhapsa more
agonizingquestion, but also one with greatcreativepotential.It challenges
the interpreter of talmudicliteratureto reflectsimultaneously on what
constitutes Jewishcultureand Jewishthinking forhim or her,and what
significance he or she attributes to beinga woman or a man in thisparti-
cularmomentofJewishculturalhistory. The moretheinterpreter reflects
the
on thesequestions,themorethoughtful interpretation willbe. This is
particularly so in an era when nothingcan or even shouldbe takenfor
grantedas to its assumed,inherentauthoritativeness. Justlike in the
Greco-Roman world,wheretherabbisfirsthad to establishtheirauthority
as the new, authoritative interpreters of biblical traditionand did not
merelyown it, talmudicliteraturetoday no longer merelyowns an
authoritative voice.
Unless the interpreter reflectsconsciouslyon whichaspectof talmudic
literatureestablishesits authoritativeness to him or her and why,inter-
pretationswill alwaysbe caughtbetweenthe polarizedfrontsof polemic
and apologeticand thusremainhighlypoliticized.Polemicistsaccuse the
Talmudof sexismor misogyny at worstor exclusivism at best,bothin its
discourseand in theinstitutions based on it. It thusbecomesmeaningless
to themforconstituting a meaningfulJewishidentitytoday.Apologists

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CharlotteElishevaFonrobert,Tal Ilari

defendthe rabbinictexts;theirexclusivismis explainedand thusalways

alreadyjustifiedto a certaindegree.A wayoutofthisbattleis hardto find.
However,a starting pointforthewayout frombetweenthesetwofronts
wouldbe theassertionthata text,in and ofitself,neversimplyis sexistor
misogynist,unlesswe endowit withpoweroverus, or unlessinstitutions
use the textto supporta givenpowerstructure. Talmudictextscertainly
lendthemselves to sucha use, and theyhavebeen used in Jewishcultural
history, instance,to excludewomenfromthe mostprizedaspectof a
for
Jewishreligiouslife,that of learning.Nonetheless,the most powerful
claimbrought forth byfeminist thinkingin theJewishcontexthas perhaps
been theclaimthatthesetextsbelongto womenalso,thattheyare partof
women'sheritage,religiouscommitments and aestheticpleasures.This
claim alreadydefieswomen'shistoricaland in some cases institutional
exclusionfromlearningTalmud.This claimand therelatedemergenceof
womenscholarsofTalmudalreadyhas begunto changethe "face"ofthe
text,as womenmovefrombeingspectators in thetalmudicbeltmidrash to
beingparticipants in it.
To cite but one examplefrommy own work:Polemicistsregardthe
discussionsin TractateNiddahas sexist,in theirmostbasic assumptionof
menstrual"impurity," while apologists- in whatI would call the "per-
petualhoneymoon"apologetic,generatedalreadyby the Talmuditself-
regardthem as providingthe basis for a couple's healthysexual life.
However,their much more problematicaspect is that even here, in
discussionsof menstruation, womenare excludedfromparticipation. A
differentkind of investigation mightask what aspectsof the discourse,
such as theobjectification ofwomen'sbodies,contribute to the exclusion
ofwomen,and,furthermore, howtherabbisestablishedtheirauthority as
menstrual experts. Did thesestrategies,
indeed, remainuncontested?
These questionstake me out of the realm of ideologicaldogmatism
aboutthe practiceof hilkhot niddah,whichsome womenfindmeaningful
and some do not. Theyput me in the positionof regarding the rabbinic
discussionsof women's bodies as irrevocably part of the web of our
collectiveJewishimagination, whichwe continueto spin.Only,we pickup
threadsthathavebeenlefthangingand continueto spinwiththem,adding
differentcolorsand texturesto theweb. One waythismayhappenis for
womento trainas halakhiccounselors, as theydo at theNishmatseminary
in Jerusalem,thus changingthe face of rabbinicauthorityin Israel.

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 Feminist ofRabbinicLiteratuer
Interpretations

Anotheris forus to use the textsas a springboardforphilosophicaland

poeticreflectionson the functionof the body religion.Eitherway,the
in
Talmud will have a different future,and the talmudicbeitmidrashwill
change its face
collective in ultimatelyunpredictable
ways.

FEMINIST READING OF RABBINIC LITERATURE

Tal lian

In thenotverydistantpast,rabbinicliterature was read rathernaivelyby

studentsof rabbinics.The varioussources, from locationsand
different
time periods,were used to back up and completeone another.For
example,if a textfoundin the Mishnahwas hard to understand,the
BabylonianTalmudcould be summonedto help explainthe text.It was
nottreatedas a commentary on the Mishnahwritten by peoplewho may
have had equallydifficultproblemswiththetext,but as the authoritative
truth, which had miraculouslymaintainedthe originalintentionof the
mishnaiceditors.
Talmudicresearchin thelasthalfcentury has done muchto uprootand
diminishthissortof naive reading.It has taughtscholarsto takeseveral
important caveatsinto account.First,rabbinicliterature was writtenby
humanbeings,who have shortcomings, prejudices and short memories,
whomayhavemade errorsofjudgement, copyingerrorsand transmission
errors,and who oftenmisunderstood theirpredecessors. Second,rabbinic
literaturewas writtenovera longperiod.Whatwas important to theearly
rabbiswas no longerimportant to the later ones.The message attributedto
a sayingor anecdotechangedovertime,and thechangein themessageleft
traces in the way the storychanged.What looks at firstsightlike a
complementary text may be no more than a time-boundalteration,
intendedto update the storyso as to make it relevant.Third,rabbinic
was written
literature in twodistinctlocations- EretzIsraeland Babylonia
- whichhad different different
cultures, setsofcustomsand traditions and
separatewaysofviewinglife.The versionsof a singletradition relatedin
two compilations, one originatingin Babyloniaand one in EretzIsrael,
mayhaveto be treatedas contradictory ratherthancomplementary.
These considerationshave led to an approach by which rabbinic
is studiedin fragments.
literature It is dividedintosources,texts,sayings,

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CharlotteElishevaFonrobert,Tal Ilari

stories,and each is studiedseparately. Thisattitudehas itsmerits:it allows

a carefulsourceanalysisand a meticulousliterary studyof each particle.
But a secondstagein our newapproachto rabbinicswarnsus thata story
has a contextand thatan editor,thoughhe mayhave used manysources,
compiledone work.Thatworkhas itsownmood,purposeand unityand is
oftenmuch morethanthe meresum of its parts.Afterthe fragmentary
analysis,a unifying analysisis justas important.
All this may seem of littlerelevanceto the question of a feminist
approachto rabbinicliterature, which bringsan agenda and method-
ologicalconcernsof a verydifferent cloth.A feminist approachbeginsby
unearthing the patriarchal natureof literatures like thatof the rabbis.It
proposes to reveal their prejudiced,unsympathetic, suspicious,often
hostileattitudeto women.At a second level,it hopes to retrieveother
voices, perhapsthose of women themselves,which have survivedthe
suppression and silencingprocess.It therefore suggests newreadingsofold
texts,in whichperipheral issuesbecomecentraland marginalfigures come
to the fore.It changespriorities by assigning a lesser to
position political
and intellectualhistory, in whichmen playedcentralroles,and favoring
instead social and familyhistory,in which women featurejust as
prominently as men.
At firstsight,thetwoapproachesthatI havejust describedhavenothing
in common.One is philological,disinterested, timeless,and overwhelm-
inglymale in its concerns.The other is contemporary, involvedand
Not
compassionate. surprisingly, it is oftenscornedby proponents of the
formerapproach.And yet,I thinkthatscholarswho wishto engagein a
feministdiscourseon rabbinicliteratureshould be well versedin the
moderntechniquesof interpreting rabbinictexts- and not onlybecause
theyshouldaspireto becomepartof the establishment, or because such
expertisewouldremovefromtheirworkthe imageof sloppyscholarship.
These techniquescan be genuinelyusefulto a seriousfeminist readingof
thetexts.
For example,talmudicscholarsoftenlamentthe stateof the printed
talmudictext,whichrepresentsthe workof seventeenth or eighteenth-
century printers,based on a lost,oftencorruptmanuscript, "corrected" by
well-wishers who had no inklingof what the originalcompilershad in
mind.This problem,theywilltellyou,can neverfullybe resolved,but it
can partiallybe remediedby recourseto the variousmanuscripts of the

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 Feminist ofRabbinicLiteratuer
Interpretations

same text,in whichvariantreadingscan oftenbe found.Such claimsare

usuallygrosslyexaggerated:most variantsmake littledifference to the
originalmeaningof the text.One may assume that these claims not
infrequently are voiced in orderto make the fieldinaccessibleto the
multitudes, women,and leave it in thehandsof a chosenfew
particularly
(men).However,particularly whenitcomesto issuesthatare ofconcernto
the feministscholar,I have discoveredthatvariantreadingsoccasionally
are of greatsignificance. This is because the processof transmitting the
talmudictextscontinuesthe compilationprocessitself, which silences
women,marginalizes them and, where possible, actually editsthem out.
Manuscripts sometimesbear evidence ofthe silencingprocess and are thus
of majorimportance to a feministreadingof the text.At the same time,
theycan actuallyprovethe pointsfeminists are makingon a theoretical
levelelsewhere.
The differences betweenthe sages' agendaswithregardto womenin
BabyloniaversusEretzIsrael,or in one school of thought(like thatof
Rabbi Ishmael)versusanother(like thatof Rabbi Akiva)are also worth
pursuing.Comparingdifferent versions,ratherthan seekingcomplemen-
tarity,will reveal marginal counter-voices and meaningfuldifferences in
emphasisas well as in practice.Contextis likewiseimportant, because it
can completely alterthestraightforward meaningofan isolatedtext.Such
alterations can be ofparamountimportance to thepositionofwomenand
thetext'sattitudetowardthem.
I thus conclude this shortpresentationwith a passionateappeal to
feminist scholarsto immersethemselves in thescholarly studyoftalmudic
texts.It willbe farmore rewarding to their endeavor than a cursory viewof
thefieldreveals.

1. See RachelAdler,"The Virginin theBrotheland OtherAnomalies:Character

and Contextin the Legend of Beruriah,"Tikkun(1988); and Daniel Boyarín,
CarnalIsrael:ReadingSex in TalmudicCulture of California
(Berkeley:University
Press, 1993), Chap. 6: "Studying Women: Resistancefrom Within the Male
Discourse."
2. See RachelAdler,"FeministFolktaleofJustice:RobertCoveras a theRenewal
of Halakhah,"Conservative 45/3(Spring1993),pp. 40-56; and Charlotte
Judaism,
Fonrobert, "Yalta's Ruse: ResistanceagainstRabbinicMenstrualAuthority in
TalmudicLiterature," in RachelWasserfall(ed.), Women and Menstruation
Water:

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CharlotteElishevaFonrobert,Tal lian

in Jewish Lifeand Law (Hanoverand London:University Pressof New England,

1999),pp. 60-82.
3. See CharlotteFonrobert, Menstrual Purity:Rabbinicand ChristianReconstructions
of Gender
Biblical (Stanford UniversityPress,forthcoming), Chap. 5.
4 ShirleyKaufman,GalitHasan-Rokemand TamarHess (eds.),TheDefiantMuse:
Hebrew FeministPoemsfromAntiquity tothePresent(NewYork:The FeministPress,
1999).
5. Excerptedin Lilith,24 (1999),no. 3, p. 31.
6. MiriamPeskowitz,SpinningFantasies:Rabbis,Gender,and History (Berkeley:
University ofCaliforniaPress,1997),p. 169.

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