TORAH PORTION Torah Generations Are Matriarchal Saturday, November 9, 1991 8:30 p.m. — 12:30 a.m. DANIEL F. POLISH CONGREGATION BETH SHALOM Special to The Jewish News 14601 WEST LINCOLN OAK PARK, MICHIGAN T An exciting trip for 2 to Las Vegas will be raffled off at this event. Trip courtesy of Hamilton, Miller, Hudson & Fayne Travel Corporation CRAPS *Cash admission of $6.00 includes $3.00 in chips $500.00 per person limit on winnings FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL 547-7970 LICENSE M20925 PROCEEDS TO BENEFIT CONGREGATION BETH SHALOM MEL FARR "Superstar Dealer" 402:* MERCURY LINCOLN NEW '92 SABLE "Executive Series" Stk. #20207 Mel Farr Lincoln Mercury 683.9500 Ask for: BUY TODAY ONLY $15,456 LEASE $331.96 / m0. 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GYM EQUIPMENT (ALL ITEMS DISCOUNTED) LARRY ARONOFF ACTON RENTAL & SALES 891-6500 54 540-5550 FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1991 Barry's Let's Rent It PARTIES EXCLUSIVELY • Tents • Tables • Chairs • China • Paper Goods 4393 ORCHARD LAKE RD., N. OF LONE PINE IN CROSSWLNDS 855-0480 his week's sedra, Toledot, underscores the humanity of the Torah. It purports to tell about the descendents or the genealogy of Isaac. But very quickly it focuses on the per- son of our mother Rebekah. The sedra reminds us of how her marriage to Isaac was ar- ranged and how she was brought to him from her home — and his ancestral home — in Paddan-Aram. We soon learn that like her mother-in-law Sarah before her, Rebekah was barren. Isaac intercedes on her behalf, entreating God for off- spring, and God is persuaded. But soon we learn that this pregnancy will not be a con- ventional one, nor an easy one. Rebekah knows great pain, and she is driven to ask, "If this is how it will be for me, why do I go on living?" Now something remarkable happens, something for which we find no precedent in the Torah, nor in the religious histories of other people. Rebekah does not go to Isaac to ask him to intercede. In- stead she goes to God herself and brings this question before God. And more remarkable still — in the con- text of the social attitudes of the ancient world — God responds directly to Rebekah. This exchange between our mother Rebekah and God is a significant moment and is worthy of our attention. In our age, we have, all of us — men and women alike — become more sensitive to the gender issues raised by social structures — including religion. Some would tell us that our Torah is an ex- clusively male-oriented text, that it depicts a hierarchical and patriarchal society. Some even claim that the Torah ig- nores the existence of women and is indifferent to the human situation of women. Many sections of the Torah support these claims. Often women are relegated to in- visibility: We do not know the name of Noah's wife. Some Torah injunctions do seem to discriminate against women. Sections of the Torah do, in- deed, reflect a patriarchal society. But what is more striking is not the extent to which the Torah reflects the social milieu out of which it Rabbi Polish is senior rabbi of Temple Beth El. arose, but the frequency with which it deviates from those patterns. This sedra is certainly one of those portions that reflects a higher sensitivity to women's realities. Rebekah's anguish and her outcry before God betray a deep sensitivity to the human reality of carry- ing children. At those moments when I think of the Torah being set down by human beings inspired by God — as originating in the Divine, but still bearing human fingerprints — it seems to me that this section could only have been written by a woman. The author knows the pain of carrying children. The Torah is, in so many ways a book filled with humanity. This section radiates a woman's humanity. Shabbat Toledot Genesis 25:19-28:9 Malachi 1:1-27 Toledot also takes the religious role of women seriously. We are accustomed to thinking of the ancient Near East as a place where women are relegated to secon- dary positions. When they have questions to bring to the attention of the authorities, they would be represented by the man in their family. When they wished for Divine assistance, they would turn to a husband, brother, or father to intercede in their behalf. Not so in Toledot. Rebekah goes directly to God. God responds directly to Rebekah's plea with an ex- planation about the special circumstances of her situa- tion and a promise: "Two na- tions are within you. Two peo- ple will be separated from your inner places. One people shall be stronger than the other, and the elder shall serve the younger." Something even more remarkable happens; Rebe- kah and God become part- ners. Rebekah undertakes, herself, to bring God's pro- phecy to fulfillment. She sees to it that the younger of the twins, Jacob, will indeed prevail over the older. Rather than playing a secondary . role, the matriarchs in the Torah play the dominant role in deter- mining the line of the in- heritance of the Jewish peo- ple. Rebekah plays the decisive role in deciding Jacob's primacy. Her mother- in-law Sarah determined that