Wanting to write down while the memory is still fresh and
the buzz in my heart still palpable how incredible it was to be in the presence
of Tamara Cohn Eshkenazi tonight, at a faculty-hosted Havdallah. This woman, who stood before us draped in a shocking majenta scarf, and carried a demeanor of both grace and ferocity, took on the publication of a unique, brave and
challenging compilation of the first exclusively female Chumash with full commentary on the Torah. I am
convinced after meeting her tonight that the process of the compilation was one
of careful, insightful deliberation, depth, and a spirit of genuine camaraderie
amongst women writers, who were hungry to have their voices heard and to be
held to a high standard of intellectual discourse in their work, as male torah
scholars have enjoyed for centuries. She brought in the voices of women from
absolutely every religious place on the spectrum, from Orthodox to transgender Reconstructionist,
rather than politicize “ progressive feminism” to speak to only a select few or to
exclusively the Reform movement which published the book.
I am most struck by her description of how the
process went-rather than an ego war, it was a creative joy for the women to work together,
and literary criticism (which I sense there was plenty of) was treated as educational-I deeply hope to find that kind of challenge
and support in my colleagues, and particularly my female colleagues throughout
rabbinical school. I am increasingly
aware that the challenge is particularly steep for women when constructing our
careers and reputations, and it can be too easy to fall into traps of claws, or
saccharine as large groups of women are stereotyped into. On a personal
level, I am inspired by her use of
poetry, to frame each parsha, which in itself can contain poetry, but can also
(often) be problematic patriarchal narrative, and to introduce a way to take on
the most challenging gender dichotomies, laws and polemics with poetic vision
really speaks to me.
I am still very much crafting my vision of what kind of
rabbi I hope to be..but the intuition in me now says that deeply creative, and
textually grounded pastoral care will be my niche, and inspirations like Tamara
who emphasize BOTH a profoundly intellectual and accessible read of Torah, and
a welcome of creative voice into the telling of our narrative bring me to
recommit to finding my own spiritual voice in this role. To intuition. And
scholarly, spiritual female leadership.
