Taste of Torah
A Bima-Ready D'var Torah
2 Sivan 5781
Parashat B'midbar
Equality for All
Torah Portion: Numbers 1:1-4:20
Haftarah Portion: Hosea 2:1 - 2:22
Shalom!
The ISJL Taste of Torah periodically features contributions from members of the ISJL Staff. This week's drash comes from Paige Beame, a second year Education Fellow.
The ISJL Taste of Torah periodically features contributions from members of the ISJL Staff. This week's drash comes from Paige Beame, a second year Education Fellow.
In this week’s Torah Portion, B'midbar, God tells Moses to “take a census of the whole Israelite community by the clans of its ancestral houses, listing the names, every male, head by head. You and Aaron shall record them by their groups, from the age of twenty years up, all those in Israel who are able to bear arms” (Numbers 1:2-3). God needed a head count to know how many people were able to fight and protect their community as needed. However, this particular census excludes women; the biblical narrative didn’t think women were eligible to serve as soldiers.
In our modern society, women are counted in the census. Women can serve as soldiers—and so much more. Women in our country have unlimited career options—but that doesn’t mean all things are equal, in the workplace and elsewhere. Great strides have been made, but women still contend with plenty of inequality... as do those who identify beyond the binary of male and female. So how can we work to make the world truly equal for all?
Let’s look at this Torah portion from a sociological perspective. In ancient times, society accepted that a woman’s primary role was as a maternal figure. Even today, some women are expected to accept this maternal role as their primary responsibility, more designed for them than “masculine-coded roles” such as serving in the military. Women—and everyone—contend with pervasive gender stereotypes. Those stereotypes lead to certain expectations.
If we look at things intended either for a boy or a girl, we can see that – even before people are born – boys are associated with dark colors like blue and green, and girls are associated with brighter colors like pink and purple. From childhood, people conform to gendered dress codes: women wear skirts and dresses, men wear pants and suits.
There are different kinds of examples we see today that reinforce society’s expectations of gender. According to Dr. Christopher Lee,i in the history of menswear, men always wore different kinds of suits.ii There is an idea that who we are is defined by what we wear,iii so men dress the way they do to symbolically show that they are strong, not weak. Some TV shows reinforce a negative association between a man dressing like a woman and being weaker. These stereotypical assumptions affect children, who alter their perceived needs and wants to fit the gender bubble society has built for them.
Society impacts children’s development. Parents buy into the stereotypes, often through the toys they buy for their children. In a store there are categories of “girl’s toys,” like dolls and kitchen sets, and “boys’ toys,” like action figures and tool sets. This is another example where men are portrayed as the stronger gender. There is no real difference between dolls and action figures – both are miniature versions of people or characters. Action figures just tend to look tougher and more masculine. If a boy wanted to play with a doll or a girl wanted to play with an action figure, other people might consider it weird because of the inherently gendered nature of the two toys.
But more and more, there is an emerging awareness of nonbinary identities and gender fluidity. And guess what? Judaism actually has a wider perspective of gender than the secular world.
The Talmud mentions a total of 6 genders, allowing Jewish tradition to discuss gender with more fluid terminology.iv Only now is the secular world beginning to catch up, allowing space for people who identify outside of the “male” and “female” binary. We can take a lesson from the Talmud that people of all genders were accepted and acceptable, beyond the categories of male and female.
Now that ideas of gender are changing, people are choosing how to express themselves beyond traditional gender expectations. We see people coming together to fight stereotypes wherever they are, so that everyone will be treated equally. As we build support for each other, we work towards the equality of everyone regardless of where they fall on the gender spectrum. We can make everyone feel welcome just as they are.
In Judaism, it is said all people are created b'tzelem Elohim, “in the image of God.”v Everyone has the right to be whoever they want to be, and we have the obligation to treat everyone the way we would like to be treated, and to honor the Divine reflected in them.
As we enter into another week, let us be mindful about gender gaps, gender discrimination, and lingering misunderstandings we see in today’s society and rededicate ourselves to the very Jewish ideal of accepting all individuals.
In our modern society, women are counted in the census. Women can serve as soldiers—and so much more. Women in our country have unlimited career options—but that doesn’t mean all things are equal, in the workplace and elsewhere. Great strides have been made, but women still contend with plenty of inequality... as do those who identify beyond the binary of male and female. So how can we work to make the world truly equal for all?
Let’s look at this Torah portion from a sociological perspective. In ancient times, society accepted that a woman’s primary role was as a maternal figure. Even today, some women are expected to accept this maternal role as their primary responsibility, more designed for them than “masculine-coded roles” such as serving in the military. Women—and everyone—contend with pervasive gender stereotypes. Those stereotypes lead to certain expectations.
If we look at things intended either for a boy or a girl, we can see that – even before people are born – boys are associated with dark colors like blue and green, and girls are associated with brighter colors like pink and purple. From childhood, people conform to gendered dress codes: women wear skirts and dresses, men wear pants and suits.
There are different kinds of examples we see today that reinforce society’s expectations of gender. According to Dr. Christopher Lee,i in the history of menswear, men always wore different kinds of suits.ii There is an idea that who we are is defined by what we wear,iii so men dress the way they do to symbolically show that they are strong, not weak. Some TV shows reinforce a negative association between a man dressing like a woman and being weaker. These stereotypical assumptions affect children, who alter their perceived needs and wants to fit the gender bubble society has built for them.
Society impacts children’s development. Parents buy into the stereotypes, often through the toys they buy for their children. In a store there are categories of “girl’s toys,” like dolls and kitchen sets, and “boys’ toys,” like action figures and tool sets. This is another example where men are portrayed as the stronger gender. There is no real difference between dolls and action figures – both are miniature versions of people or characters. Action figures just tend to look tougher and more masculine. If a boy wanted to play with a doll or a girl wanted to play with an action figure, other people might consider it weird because of the inherently gendered nature of the two toys.
But more and more, there is an emerging awareness of nonbinary identities and gender fluidity. And guess what? Judaism actually has a wider perspective of gender than the secular world.
The Talmud mentions a total of 6 genders, allowing Jewish tradition to discuss gender with more fluid terminology.iv Only now is the secular world beginning to catch up, allowing space for people who identify outside of the “male” and “female” binary. We can take a lesson from the Talmud that people of all genders were accepted and acceptable, beyond the categories of male and female.
Now that ideas of gender are changing, people are choosing how to express themselves beyond traditional gender expectations. We see people coming together to fight stereotypes wherever they are, so that everyone will be treated equally. As we build support for each other, we work towards the equality of everyone regardless of where they fall on the gender spectrum. We can make everyone feel welcome just as they are.
In Judaism, it is said all people are created b'tzelem Elohim, “in the image of God.”v Everyone has the right to be whoever they want to be, and we have the obligation to treat everyone the way we would like to be treated, and to honor the Divine reflected in them.
As we enter into another week, let us be mindful about gender gaps, gender discrimination, and lingering misunderstandings we see in today’s society and rededicate ourselves to the very Jewish ideal of accepting all individuals.
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Shabbat Shalom!
Paige Beame ISJL Education Fellow Please share this message with family and friends and when your congregation gathers for services we invite you to read this Taste of Torah from the bima. As always, please be in touch. We would particularly appreciate hearing about simchahs, (moments of joy) like births, birthdays, engagements, anniversaries, graduations as well as illnesses or other challenges in your family or community. |
i. Professor of Comparative Literature and English at Southern New Hampshire University.
ii. Dr. Christopher Lee, “History of the Suit: The Evolution of Menswear from 1800 to Today,” Gentleman's Gazette, March 27, 2020, https://www.gentlemansgazette.com/evolution-of-menswear-suits.
iii. Jennifer J. Baumgartner, You Are What You Wear: What Your Clothes Reveal about You, Boston, MA: Da Capo Press, 2012.
iv. The six genders are ish, isha, androginus, saris, aiylonit, and tumtum. See: Shoshana Fendel, “Six Sexes of the Talmud,” accessed May 7, 2021, https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/196414?lang=bi. See also: Joseph Meszler, “Gender Fluidity in the Jewish Tradition,” Keshet: For LGBTQ Equality in Jewish Life, published May 29, 2019, https://www.keshetonline.org/resources/gender-fluidity-in-the-jewish-tradition.
v. Tamara Cohn Eskenazi, editor; Andrea L. Weiss, associate editor, The Torah: A Women's Commentary (New York: WRJ, Women of Reform Judaism & URJ Press. 2008) 1123.
ii. Dr. Christopher Lee, “History of the Suit: The Evolution of Menswear from 1800 to Today,” Gentleman's Gazette, March 27, 2020, https://www.gentlemansgazette.com/evolution-of-menswear-suits.
iii. Jennifer J. Baumgartner, You Are What You Wear: What Your Clothes Reveal about You, Boston, MA: Da Capo Press, 2012.
iv. The six genders are ish, isha, androginus, saris, aiylonit, and tumtum. See: Shoshana Fendel, “Six Sexes of the Talmud,” accessed May 7, 2021, https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/196414?lang=bi. See also: Joseph Meszler, “Gender Fluidity in the Jewish Tradition,” Keshet: For LGBTQ Equality in Jewish Life, published May 29, 2019, https://www.keshetonline.org/resources/gender-fluidity-in-the-jewish-tradition.
v. Tamara Cohn Eskenazi, editor; Andrea L. Weiss, associate editor, The Torah: A Women's Commentary (New York: WRJ, Women of Reform Judaism & URJ Press. 2008) 1123.
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