Parshat Pinchas – 5764

The Month of “Tammuz” and Jewish Feminism

The origin of the names of most of the months of the Hebrew Calendar is shrouded in mystery, and all we know about them is “The names of the months... they brought up from Babylonia” (Yerushalmi Rosh HaShanah 1, 2; Bereshit Rabbah 48a); their origin was not Jewish, but foreign. There is at least one exception, where the Tanach lets us in on the origin of the name of one of the months. In Yechezkel (8:14), we find “And He brought me to the entrance at the Gate of the House of the L-rd which was at the north; and there were women sitting, bewailing the Tammuz.”

“The ‘Tammuz’ cult involved the symbolic death of Tammuz. The death of this god was initially symbolic of the grain being turned into wine or beer for the new wineskins. The wine was put into jars and stored underground... When the tanks ran dry, the gods of wine and beer failed, and they had to be aroused or resurrected with wine and music, to restore the harvest. This religion began in Babylonia, was adopted throughout the world, and even by the Jews...”

“At some point, the old god Tammuz was imagined to be mated with Asherah, Queen of Heaven (sic)... Tammuz dies and descends into hell... and Asherah braves all its terrors in search of him... While Asherah is below, the streams of fertility on earth dry up... The great gods hear the petition of the mortals... and Asherah is allowed to depart with Tammuz. So it is every year from the Persian Gulf to the Meditteranean.”

“The maids and matrons laid the pale and handsome Tammuz on a bier and mourned... The statue was a comely young god clad in a red robe; and it was anointed and bathed by the women, who chanted their dirges to the shrill music of flutes... They let their long black hair trail in the wind, beat their white breasts, and burned incense to the god.” (Joseph McCabe, “The Myths of Resurrection”)

This was approximately the scene that the Prophet Yechezkel observed, with great disgust, as the honorable ladies of Jerusalem, with disheveled hair, beat their breasts over the figure of Tammuz. And that was the “Feminism” of the ancient, pagan world; not very different, in its self-absorption, from today’s Feminism.

Parashat Pinchas is always read during the Month of Tammuz. It may be that the reason for this is that the Parashah makes reference to four models of Jewish Feminism: Serach, the Daughter of Asher, the Daughters of Tzelophchad, Yocheved and Miriam.

Serach is mentioned explicitly during the account of the Census of the Tribes. Rashi comments that she is very long-lived, having survived from the time of Yaakov. Her first act of greatness involved the tenderness that she showed to her grandfather, Yaakov, when she informed him that Yoseph was still alive, so that the shock would not kill him. For that, and for saving the City of Avel-Beit-Maachah from destruction by Yoav, in the time of David, by a wise and clever argument, she is considered to be among the nine human beings who entered Gan Eden without tasting death.

The Gemara Bava Batra records that “The Daughters of Tzelophchad were wise, knowledgeable in Torah, and righteous. They also set a great example in “Ahavat Eretz Yisrael,” love of the Land of Israel, by successfully arguing for their own share in the Holy Land.

According to the Midrash, the appearance of Yocheved was like that of the Divine Glory. She was one of the midwives referred to in Parashat Shemot who courageously defied the Pharaoh and refused to implement his genocidal plan for the Jewish People. She was rewarded by HaShem, who enabled her to give birth, as recorded in Parashat Pinchas, “...to Aharon, to Moshe and to their sister, Miriam.” (BaMidbar 26:59)

Miriam, at the age of five, assisted her mother as one of the midwives. She was the one who persuaded her father to retake her mother, Yocheved, after Amram had divorced her, out of hopelessness regarding bringing Jewish children into the world, only to be drowned. She persuaded her father to have faith in HaShem and to serve as a model for the rest of the Generation, who had followed his example as the “Gadol HaDor,” the Greatest Man of the Generation, and had also divorced their wives. Miriam prophesied that her mother would give birth to the “savior of Israel.” And she was the one whose great faith in HaShem caused Him to provide a well for the Children of Israel during their sojourn in the Wilderness. Her only sin was in trying to help her sister-in-law, Tzipporah, from whom Moshe had separated, because he was subject to visitation by G-d at all times. She led the Women of Israel in singing the Great Song of Gratitude, after the crossing of the Sea of Reeds. The Midrash records that her death was by a Divine Kiss.

In every generation, HaShem blesses the Jewish People with hundreds of righteous women, who are capable of teaching their generation the true nature of “Jewish Feminism.” It includes “Tzeniut,” Modesty, “Emunah,” Faith in HaShem, and of being a great source of love and support for her husband and children.

The Community of Monsey sadly lost such an individual, maybe more than one, recently, who had given all her energy to support her husband’s great work, and to carrying out important projects of her own. But mostly she had succeeded in raising a splendid family, each member of which is a “shalem,” full and complete in dedication to Torah and “Derech Eretz;” all manner of good characteristics, such as showing gratitude to HaShem and to human beings, love of Eretz Yisrael, patriotism and dedication to the well-being of their communities, physical and spiritual.

Rabbi Pinchas Frankel

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