Ki Teitzei, 5786 - Why We Never Saw It That Way Before

Adding new voices to our Jewish tradition enriches everyone. Each subsequent generation of Torah scholars builds on the teachings of all the ones that came before it, and creates fresh insights and perspectives that no one had considered until then. It may be true that the younger rabbis and educators could not have come up with their chidushim - their novel analyses - without standing on the shoulders of their forbearers. Yet Judaism would not advance and evolve if we always deferred to earlier teachings and didn’t incorporate new ideas. It is not, however, enough to simply add the latest generation of educators to the millennia-old conversation; especially if the voices still represent exclusively male, older, white, heterosexual, cis-gender, Ashkenazi-or-even-Sephardi leaders. New voices - from populations and groups that are often marginalized or outright excluded - enhance and expand what it means to be Jewish. I say that knowing full-well that I fit into most of the categories I mentioned above. I try, nevertheless, to broaden my perspective with resources like “The Five Books of Miriam” by Ellen Frankel or “A Rainbow Thread: An Anthology of Queer Jewish Texts from the First Century to 1969” by Noam Sienna, and others like them. In fact, this week’s Torah portion demonstrates exactly why fresh insights are so crucial.

Our Biblical texts reflect primarily a male viewpoint in almost all regards. As such, the laws of the Torah completely overlook the experiences of anyone else, and frequently metes out judgment that today sounds disturbingly misogynistic. In Deuteronomy 22:13-19, a husband makes up lies about his wife whom he wishes to divorce, and the falsehood is discovered. The man is beaten and fined for his crime, and then the Torah pronounces its final punishment, “Moreover, she shall remain his wife; he shall never have the right to divorce her.” This penalizes the man, perhaps, but it also very definitely harms the woman who is now stuck - forever - with her lying, despicable husband! None of the ancient or medieval commentators seem to pick up on this fact. As if that wasn’t bad enough, a few verses later (22:28-29), the Torah similarly rules that a man who violates a virgin, meaning raped her, is forced to marry that woman and may never divorce her. Again, this may be retribution for the rapist who never wanted to marry his victim, but now she is stuck with the man who violated her… FOREVER! 

These are just two examples of massive blind spots when we only view the Bible or Jewish law from a single (male) perspective. Laws about homosexuality, who is considered a citizen, interfaith relationships, and many others are totally ignored when we don’t expand the roster of who’s writing about Judaism today. As we all prepare for the start of a new Jewish year, let us think about how limited our own viewpoint often is. How can we incorporate new insights and perspectives? How can we listen for new voices and admit our own shortcomings? These are questions we all must grapple with, both in a Jewish context and in many aspects of our lives. The Jewish landscape has shifted and expanded dramatically. We can all be enriched and enlightened by the change… if we let it.