July 10, 2005 Sunday
SECTION: BOOKS; Pg. B08
The Bible's
brave women, the standards they lived by
BYLINE: By Corinna Lothar, SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES
The names are household
words; the stories are familiar. In her lively
new book, "After the Apple," Naomi
Harris Rosenblatt retells the
stories of 17 women from the Old Testament, but with a fresh look at
the relationship of their conduct to the moral and social codes of the
times, but also at their pertinence to our lives today.
Mrs. Rosenblatt, a resident of Washington D.C., is a Bible scholar and
a psychotherapist. She combines her fields of expertise into a
fascinating analysis of the lives and significance of these
exceptional women. Of the 17, only two - Jezebel and Dalilah - are
"wicked," yet even Jezebel's murderous deed was motivated by loyalty
to her husband (as well as her self-interest) and Dalilah's betrayal
of Samson was in the interest of her people.
It all began with Eve, "the first rebel," as Mrs. Rosenblatt calls
her. She explains that the story of the first couple "links the ideas
of speech and human companionship . . . before it even mentions
sexuality and procreation." In a contemporary analogy, she notes that
"only after the male and the female can articulate their separateness
and uniqueness are they equipped to express their mutual need and
respect for each other and affirm their interdependence."
Eve deliberates before deciding to eat the apple. She is aware that
God will punish her severely; she is willing to trade immortality for
knowledge, for, as the Bible states, having seen "that the tree was
desirable as a source of wisdom, she took the fruit and ate. Then she
gave some to her husband, and he ate." Adam does not deliberate. Eve
is the risk taker, "a woman who dares to question the limitations
imposed on her and her helpmate." She is the first in a long line of
female descendants "who use their power as women to work everyday
miracles in a patriarchal world." And it is indeed a world run by men,
a world in which women have no official power or status other than as
daughters, wives and mothers.
Sarah and Abraham are the founding couple of the new monotheistic
religion. They exemplify the true partnership of marriage. Like Eve,
Sarah is the strong one. She joins Pharaoh's harem to save her
husband; when she cannot conceive, she decides to send her slave,
Hagar, to the 86 year old Abraham as a surrogate, something she is
legally entitled to do. Ishmael is the product of that union; Isaac is
the son she bears late in her life who takes over the leadership of
the fledgling community.
Isaac's wife, Rebecca, too, takes matters regarding the future of her
people into her own hands when she tricks the now ailing Isaac into
anointing the younger of their sons, Jacob, as Isaac's heir. She knows
that Jacob, rather than Esau (who sold his birthright to Jacob for a
bowl of lentil stew), will make a good leader.
Rebecca is the only woman in the Bible who is followed from her youth
through the entire span of her marriage. The author notes that "Her
story demonstrates the human capacity to make free and moral choices.
Free will is what is meant by being made in the image of God. Choice
is inherently accompanied by anxiety and accountability." She quotes
the first century Rabbi Akiva "All is foreseen, but freedom of choice
is given."
The brothers of Jacob's grandson, Er, refused to follow the custom of
levirate law obligating a brother to marry the widow of his brother if
he dies without male issue. As the childless widow of Er, returned to
her father's house, Tamar is an unwanted burden with no economic or
social standing. So she seduces her now widowed father-in-law and
tricks him by pretending to be a prostitute. The deceit works; she
becomes pregnant and is welcomed back to her father-in-law's house,
where she gives birth to twin boys who "establish the ancestral line
leading to King David centuries later, and later sill, according to
Christian tradition, to Jesus."
Michal, David's first wife, saves him from her father's assassins by
warning David of the danger and helping him escape. Abigail first
meets David when unbeknownst to her husband, she takes food to David
and his men. David had threatened to kill her husband for refusing to
feed his men after they had protected his shepherds through the
winter. Abigail, a "confident, intuitive, capable, resourceful,
persuasive, and very brave [woman]," uses flattery and intelligence to
diffuse the situation. When her husband dies, David marries Abigail
and she remains his confidant.
The tale of King David's lust for the fair Bathsheba is the subject of
numerous paintings. Certainly, David committed an immoral act in
seducing Bathsheba and then sending her husband to the front lines to
be killed in battle so David could wed Bathsheba, whom he had made
pregnant. The Bible reproaches his conduct: "The thing that David had
done was evil in the eyes of the Lord." But Bathsheba transforms
herself from sex object to beloved partner. She speaks assertively "as
a woman secure in her place in the royal marriage." When David lies
dying, she approaches him to assure the succession of her son,
Solomon, as king. Mrs. Rosenblatt points out, "Both Abigail and
Bathsheba exude courage, the source of their self confidence. They
refuse to accept the status quo when they first meet with David,
although their predicaments are perilous. Both are wise and speak
their minds. David stops and listens."
Ruth, a Moabite woman, is the first convert to Judaism mentioned in
the Bible. She is determined to follow her mother-in-law after her
husband dies. The Bible quotes her: "wherever you go, I will go;
wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people; and
your God my God." At her mother-in-law's urging, Ruth boldly makes the
advances to the wealthy landowner, Boaz, which end in a marriage.
Then there is Esther, who risks death to confront her husband, the
king, and save her people from being murdered by order of the grand
vizier because Esther's father, Mordecai, has refused to kneel before
the vizier. Another Tamar is raped by her half brother and avenged by
her brother, Absalom. The luscious Queen of Sheba comes to visit.
Sisters Leah and Rachel share Jacob's marriage bed.
The last story is that of the beautiful Shulamite, the woman in the
Song of Songs, a poem about "the longing 'to know' and to be known . .
. an ode to sensual love that emphasizes [the lovers'] equality and
utter delight in each other." The setting of the poem is a universe
filled with flowers and fruits, "erotic symbols reminiscent of the
'fruit' in the Garden of Eden." Thus, the poem brings full circle to
Eve's decision to eat the apple so that, in the words of the Old
Testament, she will be "like divine beings who know good and evil."
Naomi
Rosenblatt retells each of the Old Testament tales of "love,
lust, and longing" and examines their relevance to the relationship
between men and women today.
The partnership engendered in a good marriage must still be based on
more than physical pleasure, important as that may be. While most
women today have many more choices available to them than the Biblical
heroines of these stories, and they no longer must submit to arranged
marriages (although such unions continue to exist in parts of the
world) issues of trust, confidence, self esteem and loyalty are as
relevant now as they were three and four thousand years ago.
Motivation may not be as simple and straightforward as it appears at
first reading. Avenging a sister's honor may also be a path to the
throne; to bathe on a rooftop in full view of the palace higher up on
the hill may not be a totally innocent act.
Naomi
Rosenblatt's skill
at understanding human nature gives an added dimension to familiar
tales.
If there is a weakness in "After the Apple," it is Mrs. Rosenblatt's
tendency to be repetitive in summing up each tale. But as her
enthusiastic analysis is both profound and interesting, this is hardly
a consequential defect. The reader will be stimulated to know more
about the world of these brave women who manipulate the men in
control, often for the good of the community as well as for their own
survival. They are seductive, wise, strong willed and complex and the
writers of the Old Testament have done them honor. Perhaps Mrs.
Rosenblatt's musing is correct: Parts of the Bible may have been
written by a woman, after all.
Corinna Lothar is a Washington writer.