Abraham and Sarah were equal partners – and so are we

Written for Rosh HaShanah 5784

One of the central pillars of Reform Judaism ideology is equality between men and women, and our movement has led the way in the Jewish world. The World Union for Progressive Judaism, where I serve as Director of Education and Leadership Development, puts the value of equality on its banner. In its values statement it is written, “We especially emphasize Progressive/Reform Judaism’s imperative of promoting gender equality. One of the most important innovations Progressive/Reform Judaism gave the world was the inclusion of women in both lay leadership roles and as clergy. We must do more to ensure that women are represented in positions of leadership at all levels of our movement.” In my conversations with community leaders from around the world from Brazil to Indonesia, Budapest to South Africa, the statement that always is made why we have chosen to affiliate with Progressive Judaism is, they share that they chose (sometimes resisting pressure by Orthodox Jews) to join Reform Judaism because gender equality is our highest value.

Equality is a value of democracy. The French brought is “Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité” – liberty, equality and fraternity. In our Declaration of Independence, it is written that Israel “will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex”.  

Especially in Israel, where the line is blurred between religion and state, when Judaism is integrated in a very natural way into our language and culture, if we truly want an egalitarian society where men and women are treated equally, where our daughters are as encouraged as our sons in their opportunities and in their programs of study, are equally placed into positions of leadership, receive equal salaries for the same job and receive equal treatment in the public space, we must continue to pave the way in order that there will be a Jewish and Democratic State of Israel.

Alongside the protests and the presence of women on the bimah and encouraging girls to read from the Torah, I wish to bring my own modest contribution – text. I wrote an article in the recently published book “Midrash Rabbah” about the place of language in my rabbinate. I quoted Dr. Miri Rozmarin, a senior lecturer at Bar Ilan University in gender studies who wrote, “Only egalitarian language will enable women to represent the world not through their relationship to men but rather from (the worldview of) differentiation and multiplicity of human viewpoints.” That is to say: Language creates reality. We need texts (written and oral) that describe the reality that we want to exist. I am sure that this is also for the good of men as much as it is for women to be full partners in gender equality not only as an idea but also as in action.

There are many examples how literature corresponds with reality – as prophecy or as an influence on future events. For example, the book “To Kill a Mockingbird” about the experiences of a girl living the racist reality of the United States in the 1930s influenced the Civil Rights movement and set up public discourse about heroism, masculinity and family relations. Our family has recently enjoyed watching the Israeli teen television series “Shelly HaKoveshet” about a teen (girl) who organizes a soccer team consisting of boys and girls in Migdal HaEmek. The central character, Shelly, shows us a young woman who is an athletic and empathetic entrepreneur leader. I will not be surprised if we will now see a rise in the number of girls playing soccer in Israel.

In the stories that we read on Rosh HaShanah, who is the main character of the story? Abraham. From the beginning, G-d spoke to Abraham to tell him to leave Haran and travel to Canaan, and spoke with him numerous other times. Abraham bargains with G-d for Sodom and Gemorrah. Abraham takes Isaac to Mount Moriyah to offer him as a sacrifice. Sarah has a role, but let’s be honest, she plays like a supporting role. When she offers Hagar, it is in her desire to help Abraham to give him a son. And it is Abraham who gives their son his name.

The rabbis of the Talmud often taught, “The Torah spoke in the language of humans” in order to explain certain choices that they made in their interpretations of Torah. For our purposes, this principle shows that human language and intellect has limits, and we must recognize that when reading text. Thus, it is possible to understand that Torah stories are connected to their cultural context. The Torah gives us one version of a reality that took place. And thus, with the development of language throughout the generations, our role is to read the Torah and to tell it in the language we use today. I would like today that we will look at the Torah portion through the language of gender equality in which men and women have equal status, through the characters of Abraham and Sarah and through the portrayal of G-d.

My first proposed text is a rewriting of the Biblical text. You will hear the addition of words. You will also hear verbs associated with G-d go between male and female – an expression of the widespread belief that G-d is neither male nor female or that G-d is both male or female. (because Hebrew is a gendered language, we must pick male or female for each pronoun and verb)

How was Isaac born?

וַי-ה-ו-ה פָּקַד אֶת־שָׂרָה וְאֶת אַבְרָהָם כַּאֲשֶׁר אָמְרָה וַיַּעַשׂ י-ה-ו-ה לְשָׂרָה וּלְאַבְרָהָם כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבְּרָה׃ וַתַּהַר וַתֵּלֶד שָׂרָה בֶּּן זְקוּנִים לָה וּלְאַבְרָהָם לַמּוֹעֵד אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּר אֹתוֹ אֱלֹהִים׃ וַיִּקְרְאוּ אַבְרָהָם וְשָׂרָה אֶת־שֶׁם־בְּנַם הַנּוֹלַד־לָהֶם יִצְחָק׃ וַיִּמוֹלוּ אַבְרָהָם וְשָׂרָה אֶת־יִצְחָק בְּנַם בֶּן־שְׁמֹנַת יָמִים כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוְּתָה אֱלֹהִים׃ וְאַבְרָהָם בֶּן־מְאַת שָׁנָה וְשָׂרָה בַּת תִּשְׁעִים שָׁנָה בְּהִוָּלֶד לָהֶם אֵת יִצְחָק בְּנַם׃ וַיֹּאמְרוּ שָׂרָה וְאַבְרָהָם צְחֹק עָשָׂה לָנוּ אֱלֹהִים כׇּל־הַשֹּׁמֵעַ יִצְחַק־לָנוּ׃ וַיֹאמְרוּ מִי מִלֵּל לְאַבְרָהָם הֵינִיקָה בָנִים שָׂרָה כִּי־יָלַדְנוּ בֵן לִזְקֻנֵנוּ׃ וַיִּגְדַּל הַיֶּלֶד וַיִּגָּמַל וַיַּעַשׂוּ אַבְרָהָם וְשָׂרָה מִשְׁתֶּה גָדוֹל בְּיוֹם הִגָּמֵל אֶת־יִצְחָק׃ וַיִּרְאוּ שָׂרָה וְאַבְרָהָם אֶת־בֶּן־הָגָר הַמִּצְרִית אֲשֶׁר־יָלְדָה לָהֶם מְצַחֵק׃ וַתֹּאמֶר שָׂרָה לְאַבְרָהָם גָּרֵשׁ הָאָמָה הַזֹּאת וְאֶת־בְּנָהּ כִּי לֹא יִירַשׁ בֶּן־הָאָמָה הַזֹּאת עִם־בְּנֵנוּ עִם־יִצְחָק׃ וַיֵּרַע הַדָּבָר מְאֹד בְּעֵינֵי אַבְרָהָם עַל אוֹדֹת בְּנוֹ׃ וַתֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים אֶל־אַבְרָהָם וְאֶל שָׂרָה אַל־יֵרַע בְּעֵינֶיכם עַל־הַנַּעַר וְעַל־הָאֲמָה כִּי בְיִצְחָק יִקָּרֵא לָכֶם זָרַע׃ וְגַם אֶת־בֶּן־הָאָמָה לְגוֹי אֲשִׂימֶנּוּ כִּי זֶרַע אַבְרָהָם הוּא וּפְרִי תִקְוֹת שָׂרָה הוּא׃

And YHWH remembered Sarah and Abraham and YHWH did for Sarah and Abraham as she had said: And Sarah became pregnant and gave birth to a son in their old age, for her and for Abraham at the time that G-d had said. And Abraham and Sarah called the name of their son that was born to them Isaac. And Abraham and Sarah circumcised Isaac their son when he was eight days old as G-d had commanded them. And Abraham was one hundred years old and Sarah was ninety years old when Isaac their son was born to them. And Sarah and Abraham said, “G-d has made for us laughter, all who hear will laugh with us.” And they said, “Who should have uttered to Abraham, ‘Sarah suckled sons’, for we have given birth to a son in our old age.” And the boy grew and was weaned and Abraham and Sarah made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. And Sarah and Abraham saw the son that Hagar the Egyptian had birthed them laughing. And Sarah said to Abraham, “Send away this servant and her son for this son of servant will not inherit with our son, with Isaac.” And this matter was very grievous for Abraham on account of his son. And G-d said to Abraham and to Sarah, “Do not let the matter of the youth and the servant be grievous in your eyes because through Isaac your seed will be called. And I will also make the son of the servant a nation for he is the seed of Abraham and the fruit of Sarah’s hopes.

Perhaps in reality, Abraham and Sarah were equals. Maybe they both heard G-d’s voice, meaning they were both prophets. In this version, Abraham and Sarah share equal responsibility. When we imagine G-d’s voice speaking, now we have the option to hear the voice speaking as male or as female.

Regarding the portion that we will read tomorrow, the Binding of Isaac, come hear this midrash (rabbinic exposition):

After all that they had been through in their lives, G-d spoke to Abraham and Sarah for the last time. G-d tells them to bring their only shared son, Isaac, to the land of Moriah and to raise him up there as an olah. Avraham understood that G-d wanted him to sacrifice Isaac, as it is written about Noah, “va’ya’al olot” as he sacrificed various animals after leaving the ark. Perhaps Abraham had been influenced by their Canaanite neighbors who sacrifice their children to Molech just as King Solomon was influenced by his foreign wives to idol worship in his elder years. Sarah understood that G-d wanted them to bring Isaac up to the mountain, as G-d would speak with Moses up on Mount Sinai and according to the Psalmist, “I raise up my eyes to the mountains….my help is from G-d”. She thought that they would raise up Isaac on the mountain in order to signify the passing of the connection with G-d to the next generation just as Moses would raise up Aaron to Hor in the mountain and would pass his priestly garments to El’azar his son. When Abraham bound Isaac, Sarah bent her knees in anticipation. When he raised the sword, she jumped between him and Isaac. And immediately they heard the angel, “Do not strike the youth!”

After hundreds of generations of wondering, “Where was Sarah during the binding of Isaac?” the time has come for the possibility that Sarah was there. The Biblical text does not say that she was not there, it simply ignores her. This midrash presents two different lines of thought, one of Abraham and one of Sarah. We do not know from the midrash who is considered right, but we give space for both Abraham and Sarah, a male voice and a female voice.

We always have a choice how to tell the story. The tradition teaches us that there are seventy faces to Torah. Our society needs our stories and interpretations. For the sake of democracy. For the sake of Judaism. For the sake of our sons and daughters. For the sake of our belief in complete equality between men and women. For the sake of the equal participation of men and women in high-tech and educators. For the sake of eliminating the income gaps. For the sake of leadership that reflects the faces of our society – We will bring the egalitarian interpretations of Torah. We will tell the stories in an egalitarian Jewish language.

And in the spirit of the angel’s blessing: All the nations of the earth will be blessed through the seed of Abraham and Sarah because they heard the Voice, and we will all say: Here I am.