Oh, Jerusalem. How she still suffers.
Why are some cities designated as feminine in our imagination and language? In a mostly man-made world this indicates a fascinating bias which leads contemporary thinkers to imagine cities built by and also for women and all of us who may not fit into the masculine mold. And yet this is the world we inherited - with the eternal city of gold already depicted as feminine in literature that dates back to the Bronze Age.
In today’s famous and often quoted chapter of consolation Jerusalem is depicted through five images of women - none too flattering though all bearing hope for redemption and renewal. What do modern readers make of this misogyny which, however, also, gives center stage, space and voice to women’s suffering and needs? Somehow, both angles can be found here -maybe just through an insistent feminist lens - both the casting down of the feminine and her respect and glorification as well.
Jerusalem, the essence of the nation, is depicted as a barren woman, yearning for children, later as a young woman sent away from home; as an older woman abandoned by her husband; as a widow, and as one who is poor and in need of support.
What the five share in common is the representation of the lowest status in the patriarchal food chain, the most vulnerable members of a society in which hetero-normative status rules, and a woman with a living wealthy husband and children matters much more. In some ways we’ve evolved since Isaiah’s 6th century BCE Jerusalem. In many ways we’ve got a long way to go.
But it is also the redemption that is depicted here through the feminine - the hope arises from the lowest, and the feminine force - the soul of the nation - is given the tools with which to build a better world and get beyond the sorrow where she - we - get stuck. “Enlarge your tent!” the prophet tells her -- make room for the future children who will yet be born to your barren present! Don’t wait for miracles - do what you can to make it happen too, from your end. Take agency, people, with a positive outlook, even in the midst of despair.
Change IS possible, Isaiah tells her, us - and uses the example of the flood, referenced here as “Noah’s waters” - in just one moment of divine anger (YHWH actually owns his rage here, which is rare) - the flood began -- and all hell broke loose - but that ended, and so too will all suffering end, rainbows and all. There is room and rewards for patience and for human agency.
There was one wise woman in the Jewish tradition who knew this chapter well enough to leave her mark upon it for posterity.
Her name was Beruriah - the only woman Torah scholar mentioned in rabbinic literature, who likely lived in the Galilee around the 2nd century CE. In this particular mention of her, in the Babylonian Talmud, she is approached by a heathen - probably an early Christian - who debates her, quoting the first verse from today’s chapter:
רׇנִּ֥י עֲקָרָ֖ה לֹ֣א יָלָ֑דָה פִּצְחִ֨י רִנָּ֤ה וְצַהֲלִי֙ לֹא־חָ֔לָה כִּֽי־רַבִּ֧ים בְּֽנֵי־שׁוֹמֵמָ֛ה מִבְּנֵ֥י בְעוּלָ֖ה אָמַ֥ר יְהֹוָֽה׃
Sing, you barren woman,
You who bore no child!
Sing aloud for joy,
You who did not travail!
For YHWH said: the children of the wife forlorn
Shall outnumber those of the espoused.”
Isaiah 54:1
The heathen challenges Beruriah with a sensible question that probably hides a more complex religious debate - “How can a woman who has not given birth sing and rejoice?”
She replies by first naming him a fool and then instructs him to read the rest of the verse - she’ll sing because one day she won’t be barren. And then she goes further, suggesting that Isaiah 54:1 teaches that the People of Israel should and will sing because they “did not give birth to children destined for ignorant and eternal damnation like you.” Ouch.
Rachel Adler, a modern day Feminist Jewish scholar who'd make Beruriah proud wrote some profound reflections on this story. She comments that in this scene the heretic is
“stopped in his tracks by a woman learned enough to direct him to read to the end of the verse… Not only does Beruriah resist the heretic’s temptation to argue that the text does not represent women's experience, she vehemently rejects all kinship with him… The Beruriah of this story views herself as a representative of the normative tradition...To imagine and transmit a legend about a female scholar through a thousand years of patriarchal culture is nothing if not a transcendence of context. But such insights are precious and fragile. They can survive only if we build a new world to sustain them. The task that we inherit from our teachers is to make a world in which a Beruriah could thrive.”
In modern day Jerusalem, a thriving Yeshiva for women named Beruriah equips young religious and feminist women for a life of scholarship. With all the challenges to equality and dignity, progress and equity - the redemption of the people continues on, with Isaiah’s prophetic wishes for singing where once was grief and bliss where once was barren solitude - continues to inspire us to keep, Beruriah style, talk back to tradition and to those who taunt. Keep singing Jerusalem, and let’s keep fighting for freedom and justice for all who walk within your streets and enter your wide gates that honor us all.
Image: Mural by Hugo Ballin at the Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Los Angeles depicting Rabbinic sages, with Beruriah standing above her husband, Rabbi Meir.
NEXT BELOW THE BIBLE BELT ZOOM TALK:
Goodbye Isaiah, Hello Jeremiah
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