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Women’s Torah commentary provides missing voices
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By Susan A. Kahn
Assistant Editor
Creating The Torah: A Women’s Commentary was a bit like giving birth: The endeavor was collaborative, lengthy, and involved hard labor. Fifteen years in the making, the 1,400-page volume was published in December 2007. Its co-editor, Dr. Tamara Cohn Eskenazi, professor of Bible at Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion, was the featured guest at the recent celebration of Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple Sisterhood’s 100th anniversary.
Eskenazi credits Fairmount Temple’s Cantor Sarah Sager for inspiring the biblical tome. Every Rosh Hashanah when the Torah portion describing the binding of Isaac is read, Sager found herself wondering: Did Sarah know of God’s command that Abraham sacrifice the couple’s beloved, long-awaited child? If she did, what was her reaction? Why was Sarah’s voice, and the voices of many other women of the Bible, largely absent from the Torah?
Sager felt it was time to redress this omission. Addressing the 1992 biennial meeting of Women of Reform Judaism, Sager issued this challenge: “If we are really serious about women’s spirituality, about reclaiming our history and our voices … then there is something concrete we can do. We can commission the first women’s commentary of the Torah!”
The Women of Reform Judaism accepted the challenge. Comparing this book to more typical commentaries, Eskenazi, who shared editing duties with Rabbi Andrea Weiss, says, “Most books come from the author; this book came from below – women said, ‘Give us this.’”
First, 100 female scholars gathered to survey existing works. Following their study, Eskenazi says they met to decide on their concept for the women’s commentary.
“We agreed we wanted a serious work,” says Eskenazi. “What we were trying to do was create a book that was authentically Jewish, authentically female and contemporary.”
The traditional way to study Torah is to divide it into 54 sections so that Jews all over the world are immersed in the same story on the same week, Eskenazi explains. The text typically appears in two languages – Hebrew, plus a translation in the language of the country in which it is published. In addition to the translation, several commentaries are included.
“Multiple voices are valued,” says Eskenazi. “There can be five or six opinions on the same page that don’t agree with each other. We wanted this variety in our commentary, too.”
To achieve this richness, the women’s commentary is structured in five layers: The first is a straightforward explanation by a female scholar of what the portion meant in biblical times. The second is a short summary by another female scholar who chooses one point to discuss. The third is a historical review, a look at what rabbis have said about the portion for 2,000 years. The fourth is a contemporary reflection by a clergyperson, educator or philosopher discussing how the portion speaks to us today. The final layer is poetry related to the portion’s theme. Verse is included, explains Eskenazi, because the book’s creators “wanted to include something that would touch the heart.”
One hundred contributors wrote the four layers, and works from over 200 poets were chosen. While all the authors are women and much of the focus is on gender issues in the Bible, the book is intended to be used by men as well.
skahn@cjn.org
The Torah: A Woman's Commentary. Edited by Dr. Tamar Cohen Eskenazi and Rabbi Andrea Weoss. Union of Reform Judaism Books and Music. New York. 2007. 1,400 pp. $75.
Eskenazi credits Fairmount Temple’s Cantor Sarah Sager for inspiring the biblical tome. Every Rosh Hashanah when the Torah portion describing the binding of Isaac is read, Sager found herself wondering: Did Sarah know of God’s command that Abraham sacrifice the couple’s beloved, long-awaited child? If she did, what was her reaction? Why was Sarah’s voice, and the voices of many other women of the Bible, largely absent from the Torah?
Sager felt it was time to redress this omission. Addressing the 1992 biennial meeting of Women of Reform Judaism, Sager issued this challenge: “If we are really serious about women’s spirituality, about reclaiming our history and our voices … then there is something concrete we can do. We can commission the first women’s commentary of the Torah!”
The Women of Reform Judaism accepted the challenge. Comparing this book to more typical commentaries, Eskenazi, who shared editing duties with Rabbi Andrea Weiss, says, “Most books come from the author; this book came from below – women said, ‘Give us this.’”
First, 100 female scholars gathered to survey existing works. Following their study, Eskenazi says they met to decide on their concept for the women’s commentary.
“We agreed we wanted a serious work,” says Eskenazi. “What we were trying to do was create a book that was authentically Jewish, authentically female and contemporary.”
The traditional way to study Torah is to divide it into 54 sections so that Jews all over the world are immersed in the same story on the same week, Eskenazi explains. The text typically appears in two languages – Hebrew, plus a translation in the language of the country in which it is published. In addition to the translation, several commentaries are included.
“Multiple voices are valued,” says Eskenazi. “There can be five or six opinions on the same page that don’t agree with each other. We wanted this variety in our commentary, too.”
To achieve this richness, the women’s commentary is structured in five layers: The first is a straightforward explanation by a female scholar of what the portion meant in biblical times. The second is a short summary by another female scholar who chooses one point to discuss. The third is a historical review, a look at what rabbis have said about the portion for 2,000 years. The fourth is a contemporary reflection by a clergyperson, educator or philosopher discussing how the portion speaks to us today. The final layer is poetry related to the portion’s theme. Verse is included, explains Eskenazi, because the book’s creators “wanted to include something that would touch the heart.”
One hundred contributors wrote the four layers, and works from over 200 poets were chosen. While all the authors are women and much of the focus is on gender issues in the Bible, the book is intended to be used by men as well.
Eskenazi credits Fairmount Temple’s Cantor Sarah Sager
for inspiring the biblical tome.
Eskenazi’s friends warned her that editing would be “a struggle with big egos.” Their predictions were wrong, she claims. But if there were any rough spots during the creative process, perhaps like labor pains, they were soon forgotten – dissolved by the sense of satisfaction the authors can take in fulfilling their stated goal: “bringing the women of the Torah from the shadows into the limelight … from the margins to which they have often been relegated to the center of the page.”for inspiring the biblical tome.
skahn@cjn.org
The Torah: A Woman's Commentary. Edited by Dr. Tamar Cohen Eskenazi and Rabbi Andrea Weoss. Union of Reform Judaism Books and Music. New York. 2007. 1,400 pp. $75.
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