Reclaiming Hidden Voices

Dear friends,

"In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out;  but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted. So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels."

Thus ends the Book of Exodus, with words that seem relevant to me this week since we moved out of our place a couple days ago. At Torah Byte yesterday we calculated approximately how many Israelites there were in the desert, and got to something like 2,000,000 including children. Moving a group that big seems even harder than moving a family in Brooklyn. Which is to say that this won't be the longest or deepest letter I've ever written. But I did want to highlight some historical women who showed up in my studies and thoughts this week, it being Women's History Month. 

One of the great prophets who foresaw a massive move of the nation from Israel to Babylon was a woman named Chuldah. Today, she doesn't have the same name recognition as her contemporary Jeremaiah,   but he knew she was the greatest prophet around during the early days of his prophecy when she was still alive. When Josiah, king of Judea asked her whether his religious reforms will save the nation from being exiled she flatly says no. It's too late. That great forced move is upon us. Josiah looks for another prophet who will provide a better answer, but the tone of Jeremaiah's prophecy changed from hope to doom. He knew that out of everyone, she's the most connected to the truth. A few decades later her prophecy came true.

This week's parashah also mentions some women, though not by name. They are women of wise hearts (חכמת לב) who volunteer their skills to build the tabernacle, that moving holy space we kept in the desert. Last Shavuot, Dr. Lizzie Berne Degear taught us about the women's weaver guilds of ancient times, who it seems have penned some important biblical passages. The wise-hearted women in this week's parashah are described as weavers and sowers who volunteer in great numbers, without whom it seems the tabernacle could not have been constructed.

Next week I'm excited for you all to read some of Lizzie's words about her scholarly work. Perhaps the main focus of Lizzie's work is the reclaiming of women's voices from ancient times. She shines a light on the tremendous influence wise-hearted women had on our tradition, and the ways in which these voices were buried by the patriarchy.  She can help us migrate away from the male-dominated view of our tradition.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Misha