Yael Shemesh is an Associate Professor in Hebrew Bible at Bar-Ilan University and the head of Fanya Gottesfeld Heller Center for the Study of Women in Judaism. Her main fields of interest are the poetics of biblical narrative, prophetic stories, measure for measure in the Bible, feminist interpretation to the Bible, animal ethics and mourning in the Bible. Among her publications: Mourning in the Bible: Coping with Loss in Biblical Literature (Hebrew).
Feminist Interpretation of the Hebrew Bible in Retrospect, 2013
מטרת המאמר היא להציג את העמדות השונות ואף מנוגדות במחקר הפמיניסטי ביחס למגילת רות, מגילת אסתר ולס... more מטרת המאמר היא להציג את העמדות השונות ואף מנוגדות במחקר הפמיניסטי ביחס למגילת רות, מגילת אסתר ולספר החיצוני יהודית וכן ביחס לדמויות הנשיות שהן גיבורות הספרים הללו.
Rachel, the last of the Matriarchs, seems to rank first in terms of the love and attention she ha... more Rachel, the last of the Matriarchs, seems to rank first in terms of the love and attention she has drawn in Jewish tradition over the generations. To a large extent thanks to the touching prophecy in Jeremiah 31, she became the symbolic mother of the nation, mourning for her children and entreating God on their behalf. This paper has two goals. The first is to sketch a profile of Rachel as she is presented in Genesis. Here the focus will be on the analogies constructed between her and other characters in Genesis, especially with Leah and with Jacob. In addition, the astonishing transformation of Rachel’s character in the Bible outside Genesis—from a beloved wife to the mother of the nation—will be considered. The first hints of this transformation can be found in two short references to Rachel (or her tomb) in 1 Samuel 10:2 and Ruth 4:11, but it reaches its zenith in the prophecy about Rachel weeping for her children in Jeremiah 31. It will also be shown how that chapter intensifies the analogies between Rachel and Leah and between Rachel and Jacob.
The article provides an example of the “reader’s responsibility” through a scrutiny of various in... more The article provides an example of the “reader’s responsibility” through a scrutiny of various interpretations of the myth that recounts the first dialogue in the Bible—that between the serpent and Eve (Genesis 3): Why does the serpent choose to address Eve, rather than Adam, when he wants to entice the humans to eat of the forbidden fruit? Throughout the generations, starting with the Apocrypha, continuing through the talmudic literature and traditional exegetes, and down to modern commentators, including feminist interpretations of the Bible, many and often contradictory answers have been offered to this question. Some of them cast scorn on the first woman and all her daughters, highlighting their general inferiority to men. At the other extreme, a few (especially feminist interpretations) provide an answer that extols her merits. Some are neutral about woman’s character and do not blame Eve for the serpent’s decision to approach her—positing, for example, that his choice derived from lust for her. But this last reading, too, can have far-reaching implications for how women are perceived, as in those versions in which the serpent had intercourse with Eve and contaminated her with his seed.
Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament, Jun 1, 2003
Abstract This article briefly surveys the direct and indirect ways in which the principal of meas... more Abstract This article briefly surveys the direct and indirect ways in which the principal of measure for measure is manifested in biblical narrative. It proceeds to examine how it is applied in the David cycle, where it is particularly prominent. David, more than any other human character in the Bible, refers to this principle both in his words and his deeds. His motives are both theological and political. He rewards and punishes measure for measure, but is himself punished according to the same principle. The article examines the different levels on which “measure for measure” works in the David stories: the human plane (David and the human characters around him), the divine plane (between David and the Lord), and the interaction between these two.
The article highlights various possible directions that Jewish feminist Bible scholarship can tak... more The article highlights various possible directions that Jewish feminist Bible scholarship can take. Even though this field has naturally been influenced by feminist scholarship in general, I believe that it does have a number of unique traits, with regard both to content (such as pointing out the Christian source of certain misogynistic interpretations) and form (commentaries oriented to the weekly Torah portion). The first part of the article deals with these unique features of Jewish feminist Bible scholarship. In the second part I look at four goals shared by feminist Bible scholarship in general and the Jewish subgenre, while focusing on the latter: (1) Emphasizing that the Bible is a patriarchal and androcentric—some would say misogynistic—text; (2) highlighting the voices for equality that can be found in the Bible; (3) focusing on biblical women and recounting her-story rather than the traditional his-tory that has been dominant for generations; (4) discovering the female authors of biblical texts, or at least the women’s voices that emerge from it. In the third section I draw on several Jewish feminist Bible scholars’ treatment of three issues to exemplify how the same underlying data led different readers to different and even contradictory attitudes and assertions about the biblical text. Two of these issues relate to narrative—the characterization of Eve and that of Ruth and Naomi and their relationship. The third issue comes from the legal corpus—the laws of menstrual impurity (Lev. 15.19-24). Here we saw not only the different positions taken by different scholars, but also the change over time in the view of Rachel Adler, which corresponds with the change in her religious perspective and move from one religious denomination to another.
Feminist Interpretation of the Hebrew Bible in Retrospect, 2013
מטרת המאמר היא להציג את העמדות השונות ואף מנוגדות במחקר הפמיניסטי ביחס למגילת רות, מגילת אסתר ולס... more מטרת המאמר היא להציג את העמדות השונות ואף מנוגדות במחקר הפמיניסטי ביחס למגילת רות, מגילת אסתר ולספר החיצוני יהודית וכן ביחס לדמויות הנשיות שהן גיבורות הספרים הללו.
Rachel, the last of the Matriarchs, seems to rank first in terms of the love and attention she ha... more Rachel, the last of the Matriarchs, seems to rank first in terms of the love and attention she has drawn in Jewish tradition over the generations. To a large extent thanks to the touching prophecy in Jeremiah 31, she became the symbolic mother of the nation, mourning for her children and entreating God on their behalf. This paper has two goals. The first is to sketch a profile of Rachel as she is presented in Genesis. Here the focus will be on the analogies constructed between her and other characters in Genesis, especially with Leah and with Jacob. In addition, the astonishing transformation of Rachel’s character in the Bible outside Genesis—from a beloved wife to the mother of the nation—will be considered. The first hints of this transformation can be found in two short references to Rachel (or her tomb) in 1 Samuel 10:2 and Ruth 4:11, but it reaches its zenith in the prophecy about Rachel weeping for her children in Jeremiah 31. It will also be shown how that chapter intensifies the analogies between Rachel and Leah and between Rachel and Jacob.
The article provides an example of the “reader’s responsibility” through a scrutiny of various in... more The article provides an example of the “reader’s responsibility” through a scrutiny of various interpretations of the myth that recounts the first dialogue in the Bible—that between the serpent and Eve (Genesis 3): Why does the serpent choose to address Eve, rather than Adam, when he wants to entice the humans to eat of the forbidden fruit? Throughout the generations, starting with the Apocrypha, continuing through the talmudic literature and traditional exegetes, and down to modern commentators, including feminist interpretations of the Bible, many and often contradictory answers have been offered to this question. Some of them cast scorn on the first woman and all her daughters, highlighting their general inferiority to men. At the other extreme, a few (especially feminist interpretations) provide an answer that extols her merits. Some are neutral about woman’s character and do not blame Eve for the serpent’s decision to approach her—positing, for example, that his choice derived from lust for her. But this last reading, too, can have far-reaching implications for how women are perceived, as in those versions in which the serpent had intercourse with Eve and contaminated her with his seed.
Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament, Jun 1, 2003
Abstract This article briefly surveys the direct and indirect ways in which the principal of meas... more Abstract This article briefly surveys the direct and indirect ways in which the principal of measure for measure is manifested in biblical narrative. It proceeds to examine how it is applied in the David cycle, where it is particularly prominent. David, more than any other human character in the Bible, refers to this principle both in his words and his deeds. His motives are both theological and political. He rewards and punishes measure for measure, but is himself punished according to the same principle. The article examines the different levels on which “measure for measure” works in the David stories: the human plane (David and the human characters around him), the divine plane (between David and the Lord), and the interaction between these two.
The article highlights various possible directions that Jewish feminist Bible scholarship can tak... more The article highlights various possible directions that Jewish feminist Bible scholarship can take. Even though this field has naturally been influenced by feminist scholarship in general, I believe that it does have a number of unique traits, with regard both to content (such as pointing out the Christian source of certain misogynistic interpretations) and form (commentaries oriented to the weekly Torah portion). The first part of the article deals with these unique features of Jewish feminist Bible scholarship. In the second part I look at four goals shared by feminist Bible scholarship in general and the Jewish subgenre, while focusing on the latter: (1) Emphasizing that the Bible is a patriarchal and androcentric—some would say misogynistic—text; (2) highlighting the voices for equality that can be found in the Bible; (3) focusing on biblical women and recounting her-story rather than the traditional his-tory that has been dominant for generations; (4) discovering the female authors of biblical texts, or at least the women’s voices that emerge from it. In the third section I draw on several Jewish feminist Bible scholars’ treatment of three issues to exemplify how the same underlying data led different readers to different and even contradictory attitudes and assertions about the biblical text. Two of these issues relate to narrative—the characterization of Eve and that of Ruth and Naomi and their relationship. The third issue comes from the legal corpus—the laws of menstrual impurity (Lev. 15.19-24). Here we saw not only the different positions taken by different scholars, but also the change over time in the view of Rachel Adler, which corresponds with the change in her religious perspective and move from one religious denomination to another.
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This paper has two goals. The first is to sketch a profile of Rachel as she is presented in Genesis. Here the focus will be on the analogies constructed between her and other characters in Genesis, especially with Leah and with Jacob. In addition, the astonishing transformation of Rachel’s character in the Bible outside Genesis—from a beloved wife to the mother of the nation—will be considered. The first hints of this transformation can be found in two short references to Rachel (or her tomb) in 1 Samuel 10:2 and Ruth 4:11, but it reaches its zenith in the prophecy about Rachel weeping for her children in Jeremiah 31. It will also be shown how that chapter intensifies the analogies between Rachel and Leah and between Rachel and Jacob.
This paper has two goals. The first is to sketch a profile of Rachel as she is presented in Genesis. Here the focus will be on the analogies constructed between her and other characters in Genesis, especially with Leah and with Jacob. In addition, the astonishing transformation of Rachel’s character in the Bible outside Genesis—from a beloved wife to the mother of the nation—will be considered. The first hints of this transformation can be found in two short references to Rachel (or her tomb) in 1 Samuel 10:2 and Ruth 4:11, but it reaches its zenith in the prophecy about Rachel weeping for her children in Jeremiah 31. It will also be shown how that chapter intensifies the analogies between Rachel and Leah and between Rachel and Jacob.