A wonderful reading of the Joseph story. For those of us who grew up in a time when there wasn't even language to discuss anything outside of the gender binary and gender roles within the binary were seriously beginning to the challenged, there has been a great need for an attitude adjustment.
I wish that society in general was on the same page as Rabbi Ruttenberg's commentary about parenting.
"This does not, of course, mean that favoring a child—and certainly not blatantly, certainly not to the point that the other children feel jealous and resentful? Murderous, even? Is particularly good parenting. Mind you.
(I would hope that we had all left any illusions that Torah is a parenting manual by the wayside sometime around Abraham, though.) "
Some assorted comments:
"Spiritual traditions teach: Still the mind and, if possible, be silent*. "
I have found stilling the mind to be the real challenge. My day jobs rarely involved much physical labor, but a lot of mental work. So Shabbat observance for me necessarily involves stilling the mind. Before the pandemic, driving to my Synagogue was a regular part of Shabbat morning. The Shabbat morning service has silent prayers that in a sense help still my overactive mind. But I do miss the noisy aspects of Shabbat. Young children in the Sanctuary, the conversation after the service at Oneg, the people who I worshipped with at Synagogue who don't do Zoom, etc.
God as God's pronoun
One issues with using God as God's pronoun is that the English word God/god is gendered. My understanding of God is not gendered, but the word God/god clearly puts to mind the word Goddess/goddess as a feminine alternative. Using God as God's pronoun kind of feels like references to humanity as Man, I don't have a better alternative, so I do use God as God's pronoun. There is a long way to go in many ways regarding language with implicit or explicit gender bias.
G-d instead of God
I'm sure I've already brought this up before. Spoken aloud, with the hyphen silent was a euphemism for "god damn" that I heard a fair amount during my childhood. Most of my acquaintances who spell God as G-d would vocalize it as Ha Shem (the Name in Hebrew).
Reading recommendation
Egalia's Daughters: A Satire of the Sexes (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egalia%27s_Daughters) . A Norwegian book first published in 1977 I found it very helpful in wrapping my mind around implicit gender assumptions built on male centered language and society. I read the 3rd edition (2004) translated to English. Of course gender understanding is not static and it helps if you grew up in the 1950s/1960s/1970s.
"And if you are a cis male, please, yes, this discussion is for you as well!"
My understanding of sexuality and gender has changed a lot of the course of my lifetime and I am sure it will continue to change. The one thing that hasn't changed is the value of actually listening to each other regardless of our own understanding of sexuality and gender. I took the opportunity of participating in the NCJW Tea Talk with Rabbi Ruttenberg: Jewish Feminism on Thursday, October 21, 2021 on Zoom. It was an event open to the public and well worthwhile. In one of the smaller breakout sessions a few of us observed that some understandings of Jewish feminism are generational. It doesn't mean that people aren't open to new ideas. Indeed, I was drawn to my local Reform congregation, because people of various sexualities/genders and racial/ethnic backgrounds found a spiritual home there.
Thanks for reading/listening if you are reading this. Have a good week!
I would have never guessed on my own how much in the commentaries issues on sexuality and gender expression were even thought about, let alone written down. It really does make those generations so far removed from us, a little closer, facing issues many face today.
As a kid I always really resonated with Joseph and like, wow this week was super enlightening (each week has been but this one especially, it's made my afternoon). The fact that the coat was a womans and that Joseph is regarded as pretty is actually not all that surprising to me, and unfortunately it makes his older brothers actions even more.
I love this interpretation! It's super affirming for this queer non-binary spiritual seeker. And having tried on makeup that suits me, I can relate to the midrashic descriptions of Joseph curling his hair and penciling his eyes.
Nothing much to say here, this is a beautiful piece and very affirming, just noting once again that I appreciate the commentary on the Hebrew and its parallels elsewhere and learning about various midrashim. Thank you!
Ok I’m trying to think of this in a political way, that is the Judah/Israel politics. Joseph is the northern kingdom, Judah the southern. Joseph is the hero of the broader story arc here, and Judah is the prime other brother, saving him from execution, then being the one who objects to Joseph’s humiliation and causes him to reveal himself. So could the gender queering be a southern kingdom attempt to denigrate Joseph in their version of the story?
That said I’m amazed at the open mindedness of our medieval rabbis to think of Joseph the way they did vs the incredible amount of bigotry about these issues today.
Ryan: Thank you for sharing your thoughts and lived experience that informs them.
And yes, I am definitely interested in your "thoughts for another time". The insight that "Particularly thinking if Dina going out was meant to be the start of Joseph's journey," really resonated with me.
I love the translation of Joseph as Extra
"(Gender) queering Joseph"
A wonderful reading of the Joseph story. For those of us who grew up in a time when there wasn't even language to discuss anything outside of the gender binary and gender roles within the binary were seriously beginning to the challenged, there has been a great need for an attitude adjustment.
I wish that society in general was on the same page as Rabbi Ruttenberg's commentary about parenting.
"This does not, of course, mean that favoring a child—and certainly not blatantly, certainly not to the point that the other children feel jealous and resentful? Murderous, even? Is particularly good parenting. Mind you.
(I would hope that we had all left any illusions that Torah is a parenting manual by the wayside sometime around Abraham, though.) "
Some assorted comments:
"Spiritual traditions teach: Still the mind and, if possible, be silent*. "
I have found stilling the mind to be the real challenge. My day jobs rarely involved much physical labor, but a lot of mental work. So Shabbat observance for me necessarily involves stilling the mind. Before the pandemic, driving to my Synagogue was a regular part of Shabbat morning. The Shabbat morning service has silent prayers that in a sense help still my overactive mind. But I do miss the noisy aspects of Shabbat. Young children in the Sanctuary, the conversation after the service at Oneg, the people who I worshipped with at Synagogue who don't do Zoom, etc.
God as God's pronoun
One issues with using God as God's pronoun is that the English word God/god is gendered. My understanding of God is not gendered, but the word God/god clearly puts to mind the word Goddess/goddess as a feminine alternative. Using God as God's pronoun kind of feels like references to humanity as Man, I don't have a better alternative, so I do use God as God's pronoun. There is a long way to go in many ways regarding language with implicit or explicit gender bias.
G-d instead of God
I'm sure I've already brought this up before. Spoken aloud, with the hyphen silent was a euphemism for "god damn" that I heard a fair amount during my childhood. Most of my acquaintances who spell God as G-d would vocalize it as Ha Shem (the Name in Hebrew).
Reading recommendation
Egalia's Daughters: A Satire of the Sexes (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egalia%27s_Daughters) . A Norwegian book first published in 1977 I found it very helpful in wrapping my mind around implicit gender assumptions built on male centered language and society. I read the 3rd edition (2004) translated to English. Of course gender understanding is not static and it helps if you grew up in the 1950s/1960s/1970s.
"And if you are a cis male, please, yes, this discussion is for you as well!"
My understanding of sexuality and gender has changed a lot of the course of my lifetime and I am sure it will continue to change. The one thing that hasn't changed is the value of actually listening to each other regardless of our own understanding of sexuality and gender. I took the opportunity of participating in the NCJW Tea Talk with Rabbi Ruttenberg: Jewish Feminism on Thursday, October 21, 2021 on Zoom. It was an event open to the public and well worthwhile. In one of the smaller breakout sessions a few of us observed that some understandings of Jewish feminism are generational. It doesn't mean that people aren't open to new ideas. Indeed, I was drawn to my local Reform congregation, because people of various sexualities/genders and racial/ethnic backgrounds found a spiritual home there.
Thanks for reading/listening if you are reading this. Have a good week!
I love this so much ❤️🏳️🌈
I would have never guessed on my own how much in the commentaries issues on sexuality and gender expression were even thought about, let alone written down. It really does make those generations so far removed from us, a little closer, facing issues many face today.
As a kid I always really resonated with Joseph and like, wow this week was super enlightening (each week has been but this one especially, it's made my afternoon). The fact that the coat was a womans and that Joseph is regarded as pretty is actually not all that surprising to me, and unfortunately it makes his older brothers actions even more.
I love this interpretation! It's super affirming for this queer non-binary spiritual seeker. And having tried on makeup that suits me, I can relate to the midrashic descriptions of Joseph curling his hair and penciling his eyes.
Nothing much to say here, this is a beautiful piece and very affirming, just noting once again that I appreciate the commentary on the Hebrew and its parallels elsewhere and learning about various midrashim. Thank you!
This gives me life today.
Ok I’m trying to think of this in a political way, that is the Judah/Israel politics. Joseph is the northern kingdom, Judah the southern. Joseph is the hero of the broader story arc here, and Judah is the prime other brother, saving him from execution, then being the one who objects to Joseph’s humiliation and causes him to reveal himself. So could the gender queering be a southern kingdom attempt to denigrate Joseph in their version of the story?
That said I’m amazed at the open mindedness of our medieval rabbis to think of Joseph the way they did vs the incredible amount of bigotry about these issues today.
fyi - I moved some comments from "at the root of these longings" by copying them here and deleting them from the prior post.
Ryan: Thank you for sharing your thoughts and lived experience that informs them.
And yes, I am definitely interested in your "thoughts for another time". The insight that "Particularly thinking if Dina going out was meant to be the start of Joseph's journey," really resonated with me.