She Says: Goodbye Psalms, Hello Proverbs

I’m with her. It’s her voice that speaks through the old men’s banter and shines through the pages of this book. 

This week, Below the Bible Belt, we prepare to say goodbye to the Psalms - only two more chapters left next week before we head over to the next book - Proverbs.

And while the Psalms are often associated with King David and throughout the book the poet speaks to God as one man to another - the feminine gaze and the non-male voice is also present throughout this book.

You’ll miss it in the English translation but again and again there is reference to auspicious entities that represent the feminine divine and the broader than male human experience.

Hidden inside this patriarchal text and male-first system - her voice, her presence, her needs and wisdom shine through. You gotta pay attention. We’re with her. 

Who is she exactly? Maybe the goddess in disguise, maybe just the recognition by our ancestors that all voices matter and the full human experience is much much more than what men and males and masculine identity has to say. 

Take Jerusalem for instance - always referred to as a she - sometimes negative and sometimes positive. In psalm 147 that we just read a famous line calls upon Jerusalem to praise God and upon Zion to sing the praises. In both cases its in the feminine, and the verses that come right after bring home the metaphor of Jerusalem as the mother of the nation, eager for her children’s peace and prosperity:

שַׁבְּחִ֣י יְ֭רוּשָׁלַ͏ִם אֶת־יְהֹוָ֑ה הַֽלְלִ֖י אֱלֹהַ֣יִךְ צִיּֽוֹן׃ כִּֽי־חִ֭זַּק בְּרִיחֵ֣י שְׁעָרָ֑יִךְ בֵּרַ֖ךְ בָּנַ֣יִךְ בְּקִרְבֵּֽךְ׃ הַשָּׂם־גְּבוּלֵ֥ךְ שָׁל֑וֹם חֵ֥לֶב חִ֝טִּ֗ים יַשְׂבִּיעֵֽךְ׃

O Jerusalem, glorify your GOD;

praise your God, O Zion!

For the bolts and bars of your gates have been made strong,

and your children have been blessed within you.

Your realm has been endowed with peace,

and you have been satisfied with the cream of wheat.

Ps. 147:12-14

The first two lines quoted here are a famous tune and favorite on wedding dance floors, clearly sung in the feminine as Jerusalem sings to her partner - and the ancient he/she divine dialogue provides the sacred union which is harmony and hope and bliss. 

The soul is also always referred to in feminine language in these pages. Psalm 147 begins with Barchi Nafshi - Bless, my Soul - clearly in the feminine. 

Next week we enter the domain of Wisdom. She is known as Lady Wisdom or Woman Wisdom to make it clear to English readers that the term used throughout the Book of Proverbs - Hochmah — is feminine.

She is the one who knows. And she will let us know exactly what it means to listen to, to be with, and to go with her.

Who is she exactly? There are many theories. But if you ask me - and I’m curious to be exploring this book along with you — she is the manifestation of the ancient Goddess known by many names , pushed aside by patriarchy but never really silenced or ignore — she is much more than that. 

It is a new moon and a new month, tonight we honor the Sabbath Queen and in the United States come towards the end of this momentous election with a woman running to be the leader of this country and the free world. Is the old world ready for her wisdom? For another way? Time will tell. I am. And many of us know that the old ways will get us the same old results, binary and baffling and dangerous.

So please go vote and do what’s right to live outloud the prayer of these psalms: May there be borders where only peace resides and we all get the cream of the crop and the best ahead for the next generations. 

Join me on Tuesday to begin the journey of Misheli - Proverbs - Her Book of Wisdom. It’s an auspicious time to listen to what she has to teach us. 

Thank you for joining me below the Bible Belt. 

Shabbat Shalom.