30 Friday, January 20, 1984
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
God: He, She, It or a Loftier Concept?
By RABBI BERNARD
RASKAS
NEW YORK — Recently
the National Council of
Churches published a new
translation of portions of
the Bible to make it relev-
ant to contemporary lan-
guage and conceptions of
God. The headlines pro-
claimed, "New Bible trans-
lations make God both male
and female." Aside from
the provocative publicity,
thoughtful religious lead-
ers, including rabbis, have
struggled with the problem
of conveying correctly the
meaning of God and being
sensitive to the feelings of
moderns, particularly
women who justifiably feel
that God has been repre-
sented solely in male terms.
Let us begin by stating
the problem. We are trying
to express in human lan-
guage a non-human (supra
human) being. We are em-
ploying physical terms to
define a metaphysical ex-
perience. This is clearly im-
possible, for we simply do
not have the means to do it
properly.
Maimonides, as usual,
summed up the- issue. "It
would be extremely difficult
for us to find, in any lan-
guage whatsoever, words
that are adequate to this
subject, and we can only
employ inadequate lan-
guage."
Shall we use He for
God? This is clearly a
male sexual term and
conveys the impression
of a physical being. On
the other hand, She,
while being more logical
because a female can give
birth and a male cannot
create in that sense, is
also sexual and is not
faithful to the many times
God is referred to in the
Hebrew by a male pro-
noun.
To use the word It for God
is impersonal. God is power,
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but so is Niagra Falls, and ,uniquely female experi-
how can one worship it? God ence. For example, God, as
is a process, but can one mother, is found in Isaiah
pray to a process? The an- (42:14). "Now I cry out like a
swer is to deal with the pro- woman in childbirth; and
per translation in each in- God is compared to a mother
stance and not use a one- suckling her children
dimensional blanket ap- (Numbers 11:12); and a
midwife attending a birth
proach.
Let us examine some (Job 3:12). Or the most
suggestions made by the beautiful, "As one whom a
new translations, and then mother comforts, so I will
move on to examine other comfort you." (Isaiah 66:13).
All these extend the feeling
passages.
Let us begin with the ob- for and the meaning of God.
Certain phrases natur-
vious premise that all per-
sons are equally loved, ally lend themselves to
judged and accepted by God. change. The crucial verse in
Young and old, male and Genesis 2:7 describing the
female, and persons of every creation of the human being
racial, cultural and na- now reads "The Lord God
tional background are to be formed man from the dust of
included in a relationship the earth.
"He blew into his nos-
with God.
A beautiful passage trils the breath of life, and
from the Midrash ex- man became a living be-
presses it exactly. "I call ing." The word for man
heaven and earth as wit- here is Adam, which
ness: The spirit of holi- means of the earth.
ness rests upon each per- Therefore, I suggest the
son according to the deed new translation might be,
that each does, whether it "Then God, the Sover-
be non-Jew or Jew, man eign One, formed an ear-
or woman." (Seder thling of the dust from the
Eliahu Rabbah, Chap. 9). earth and breathed into
God transcends all the creature's nostrils the
categories and ultimately breath of life."
The term ben Adam is
speaks to the individual
person and to all persons. usually rendered "son of
Let it also be noted that in man." However, children
Jewish literature, there are are born of woman, not man.
many terms for God. Jewish Here, I think it would be
tradition has the number better to use the term "hu-
for the names of God as 70. man one."
At any rate, there is
The basic formula for
Schechina, which is trans- every blessing is barukh
lated as "in dwelling spirit" atah adonoy elohenu melekh
and is feminine. Matronit haolam and is usually ren-
(matron) is another dered, "Praised are You, 0
feminine phrase for an as-
Lord our God, King of the
pect of God, and, as the Universe." Very definitely
name implies, is clearly male oriented. The word
female. The Jewish mysti- Adonoy was first translated
cal tradition has enriched by the Greek kyrios
our thinking about God by meaning Lord. Kyrios was
adding the feminine com- the head of the family, the
ponent.
master of the house and has
Furthermore, there are the evocative meaning such
already some wonderful as "Sir."
metaphors for God in the
The word Adonoy is not a
Bible making full use of the direct translation and is
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used instead of the ineffable
name of YHWH. Then why
not leave it as Adonoy and
not translate it? Adonoy
gives us the flavor of the an-
cient Hebrew, roots us in
history, binds us to our an-
cestors and gives us a sense
of mystery.
The word "King" is cer-
tainly a masculine one.
The term ruler here is
perfectly acceptable.
However, ruler summons
up images of force. Why
not "sovereign" which is
majestic and uplifting?
Therefore, every
barakha might be trans-
lated, "Praised are You,
Adonoy, Sovereign of the
Universe."
Probably the prayer
which gives women most of-
fense is found at the begin-
ning of the daily services.
The instructions usually
read, "Men say" and then
there - follows the blessing,
"Praised are you, 0 Lord our
God, King of the Universe,
who has not made me a
woman." Then there is the
instruction, "women say."
And is followed by the bless-
ing, "Praised are you, 0
Lord our God, King of the
Universe who has made me
according to your will."
While we may explain
that these instructions his-
torically arose out of a pat-
riarchal society, and try to
advocate their continuance
on the basis of rationaliza-
tion, but the fact is, it is
rationalization, and con-
temporary women see this
as male chauvinism. And it
is. It is best to simply use the
second prayer for both men
and women, "who has made
me according to your will"
and eliminate the other
blessing altogether as the
Conservative prayer book
has done.
One more basic prayer
ought to be re-examined.
The beginning of the Amida
opens with the classic salu-
tation, "The God of Ab-
raham, the God of Isaac and
the God of Jacob." This re-
fers to the patriarchs but
ignores the matriarchs.
But, then again, why should
they be overlooked, for
would there be generations
of patriarchs without mat-
riarchs? Therefore, the
prayer should quite prop-
erly read, "The God of Ab-
raham and Sarah, the God
of Jacob and Rebecca, and
the God of Jacob and Rachel
and Leah." It is always a
blessing to be inclusive
rather than exclusive.
Some may wonder,
how can we take it upon
ourselves to enlarge our
views of liturgy? The an-
swer is that Judaism has
always done so, and the
Talmud is simply a proc-
ess of interpretation and
adjustment. In fact, the
Talmud does say this
explicitly (Hulin 7a):
"His ancestors left him a
place to enlarge (create new
forms). Therefore, even I
was left a place by my an-
cestors to enlarge (create
new forms)." We enjoy the
same heritage and share the
same responsibility.
Boris Smolar's
`Between You
. . and Me'
Editor-in-Chief
Emeritus, JTA
(Copyright 1984, JTA, Inc.)
THE ORT CONFERENCE: Ever since the founding
of ORT — more than 100 years ago in Russia — to train
masses of impoverished Jews there to become skilled work-
ers and qualified artisans, the organization has distin-
guished itself not only by programs meeting immediate
needs, but also by looking ahead and making long-term
plans.
Today, ORT is focusing its energies in the exciting and
fascinating field of computer training. Its ambition is to
provide basic computer literacy — essential to future tech-
nicians both in commerce and industry — to all its 113,000
students enrolled in its network of about 800 technical
schools and training centers in more than 20 countries. It is
determined to achieve this goal within the current year.
This will enable the entire student body — which includes
79,000 in nearly 100 OUT schools in Israel — to enter the
technological marketplace of tomorrow, competent also in
the skills in which they are specializing now.
Computer training is already a part of the curriculum
in some of the ORT vocational and technical schools. It will
now be integrated in the curriculum of the entire ORT
system worldwide. A report on the plans and achievements
of ORT in computer training will be presented at the
American ORT Federation's three-day national conference
which opens in New York on Jan. 27 with the participation
of delegates from all over the United States. The American
ORT Federation is an important part of the World ORT
Union.
ORT leadership is led to its expansion of computer
training by expert predictions that within less than 10
years more than 80 percent of all jobs will require computer
skills, and that more than 20 million new jobs will be
created by the next decade in high technology areas.
ORT FUNDING: The worldwide scope of the ORT
training programs is vividly reflected in its yearly budgets.
In 1983 the ORT budget was about $95 million. Of this sum,
approximately $59 million was allocated to programs in
Israel — way more than $1 million a week.
Its funding comes from various sources. Almost 80
percent of its budget is met by the communities it serves. Its
local income reaches almost $75 million. There are also
generous contributions from the governments of Canada,
Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark and other coun-
tries. Municipalities in France and in some other countries
help ORT to maintain their vocational schools locally, rec-
ognizing them as an asset to the local educational system.
Funding from the American Jewish community comes
primarily from the Joint Distribution Committee which
has been maintaining firm ties with ORT for close to 40
years. JDC is presently allocating more than $4.5 million a
year for ORT activities through the American ORT Federa-
tion. Affiliated with the federation is the Women's Ameri-
can ORT with a membership of 140,000. It contributed last
year about $4.5 million to the World ORT Union. Another
affiliate is American Labor ORT, which secures substantial
contributions from organized labor unions, primarily in the
needle trades.
Other affiliates are the Business and Professional
ORT, and the National ORT League. The American ORT
Federation itself is also conducting fund raising on a
limited scale.
The president of the
American ORT Federation
since last year is Alvin L.
Gray. He was preceded by
the late Sidney Leiwant, a
prominent figure in the
American Jewish community
and one of the top leaders of
the United Jewish Appeal
and the JDC. Dr. William
Haber, noted professor-
economist, and Harold
Friedman, JDC leader and
former president of the
United HIAS Service, are
now active honorary
presidents of the organiza-
DR. WILLIAM HABER
tion after completinc, their
b to its
terms as president, bringing the ORT in the U.S.
present popularity.
Dr. Haber, of the University of Michigan, will be hon-
ored at a special, reception at the national conference on
Jan. 27 to mark his 85th birthday.
To fight is a radical in-
stinct; if men have nothing
else to fight over they will
fight over words, fancies or
women, or, they will fight
because they dislike each
other's looks, or because
they have met walking in
opposite directions.
—George, Santayana