{"id":48435,"date":"2019-01-29T18:15:26","date_gmt":"2019-01-29T16:15:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=48435"},"modified":"2022-08-23T17:36:28","modified_gmt":"2022-08-23T14:36:28","slug":"grandpas-bible-based-egalitarianism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/grandpas-bible-based-egalitarianism\/","title":{"rendered":"Grandpa\u2019s Bible-Based Egalitarianism"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[614,483,365,391],"acf":{"old_id":"48435","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":46249,"related_cahpter":"144","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"A tradition solid enough to root us, flexible enough to adapt when necessary","content":"

My shtetl-born grandfather, Leon Gerson z\u201dl, had a great \u201cbah.\u201d One harrumph evoked an exhaustion and indignation honed by millennia of Jewish suffering. To him, all the media yelling about \u201cthe feminists,\u201d pro and con, was bah-worthy. Yet, he was so proud of the flexibility, vision, humanity, and respect for women that Moses, the Torah, and God convey in Numbers 27 \u2013 with the daughters of Zelophehad.<\/span><\/p>\n

The story begins with five daughters approaching Moses thoughtfully, respectfully. Their father died without sons. They nevertheless feel they should inherit a portion of his land to continue his name — a nice reminder that the stuff we inherit represents our parents\u2019 spiritual legacies.<\/span><\/p>\n

Moses lobbies God \u2013 <\/span>VaYikrav<\/span><\/em>\u2013 \u201cto approach\u201d; also, \u201cto make a sacrificial offering.\u201d A mere six words later, voila, God understands the daughters spoke \u201cjustly.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A powerful moment in democratic reform occurs. God declares in 27:11 that this new expansiveness shall remain forever as <\/span>Chukat Mishpat<\/span><\/em>\u2013 a \u201cdecreed statue as the Lord commanded Moses.\u201d Using the traditional wording legitimizes this innovation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sadly, Moses\u2019s fortunes turn abruptly in the next verse. God tells Moses to glance at the Promised Land, while remembering he won\u2019t reach it, as a punishment for his previous sin of not lobbying God properly for water.<\/span><\/p>\n

Numbers <\/span>again distinguishes between constructive dissent triggering legitimized reform versus destructive lashing out. \u00a0This helps explain Grandpa Leon\u2019s delight in Zelophehad daughters. My grandfather\u2019s \u201cbah\u201d wasn\u2019t rejecting powerful women but all the polemics, which obscured his more natural, organic, Bible-based egalitarianism. <\/span><\/p>\n

He loved recalling that he discovered Zionism as a 12-year-old by reading <\/span>Daniel Deronda<\/span><\/em>— written by a woman, George Eliot — during Kol Nidre<\/em>. A congregant seized the book and passed it to the rabbi, forcing my formidable great-grandmother to demand it back after the fast. My grandfather was proud that his mother ran a bakery in Stavisk, Poland, his wife worked in the Bronx and Queens, his daughter \u2013 my mother \u2013 worked \u2013 in Brooklyn and Queens, and his only granddaughter had a fancy job in the only borough that counted, Manhattan \u2013 what we kids from Queens called \u201cNew York.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

When I read about our spiritual great-great-grandmothers, Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah, I delight that the Torah named them, Moses heard them, God legitimized them, and my grandfather taught us to revere them as strong women and change-agents in a tradition solid enough to root us, flexible enough to adapt when necessary.<\/span><\/p>\n

artwork by: Linda Adams, courtesy of the artist <\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":48436,"id":48436,"title":"num27-adams-troy","filename":"num27-adams-troy.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num27-adams-troy.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/grandpas-bible-based-egalitarianism\/num27-adams-troy\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"num27-adams-troy","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":48435,"date":"2019-01-29 16:15:03","modified":"2021-11-11 18:17:39","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":4032,"height":3024,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num27-adams-troy-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num27-adams-troy-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num27-adams-troy-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num27-adams-troy-1024x768.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":768,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num27-adams-troy.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1152,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num27-adams-troy.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1536,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num27-adams-troy-1200x900.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":900,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num27-adams-troy-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Grandpa\u2019s Bible-Based Egalitarianism","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"A tradition solid enough to root us, flexible enough to adapt when necessary","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":48436,"id":48436,"title":"num27-adams-troy","filename":"num27-adams-troy.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num27-adams-troy.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/grandpas-bible-based-egalitarianism\/num27-adams-troy\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"num27-adams-troy","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":48435,"date":"2019-01-29 16:15:03","modified":"2021-11-11 18:17:39","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":4032,"height":3024,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num27-adams-troy-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num27-adams-troy-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num27-adams-troy-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num27-adams-troy-1024x768.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":768,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num27-adams-troy.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1152,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num27-adams-troy.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1536,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num27-adams-troy-1200x900.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":900,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num27-adams-troy-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"links":false,"send_noty":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48435"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48435"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":107459,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48435\/revisions\/107459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}