What I'm reading now
Yesterday, I finished reading Neal Stephenson's _Snow Crash_. Its synthesis of Babylonian mythology, Jewish mysticism and information science made me want to go read up on Inanna, Enki, Asherah and the tower of Babel, but, strangely did not inspire any desire to learn how to code software or ride a skateboard. Stephenson seemed to be treading carefully around the mainstream forms of the major world religions, even while depicting *some* religions as vehicles for dangerous neurolinguistic viruses that wiped out people's free will or even killed them. In _Snowcrash_, the Pentecost was a viral hacking of Christianity, causing people to speak in the universal language (Sumerian). Whenever people spoke in tongues, this was an outbreak of the same "Asherah" virus. I didn't like the way the novel equated Jewish Ba'al Shem Tov (literally "masters of the Name", faith-healers and miracle workers) with hackers. one of the characters, a Catholic programmer who doesn't believe in the resurrection of Jesus, declares that, having mastered the neurolinguistic programs from the Sumerian stone tablets, she is now a ba'al shem tov. Overall, I enjoyed the book, especially the two main characters, Hiro Protagonist (katana-wielding biracial hacker) and Y.T. (15 year-old skateboard courier and all-around bad-ass).
Now, I'm reading _The Ordering of Love: New and Collected Poems of Madeleine L'Engle_, and _Torah Queeries_. The latter contains a drash, or commentary, on each Torah portion, starting with Bereishit (Genesis 1:1- 6:8). The book reminds me of how much I miss attending Congrehation Beit Simchat Torah in NYC. The commentary on Bereishit focuses upon Genesis 1:27: "And God created man in His image, in the image of God He created them." The author explains how the rabbis who wrote the Talmud recognized FIVE sexes, not two. Sexes mentioned in the Talmud include: male, female, androgynos (person with male and female sex organs), tumtum (person with indeterminate external genitals), saris (feminine, infertile male, sometimes translated as "eunuch"), and ailonit (masculine, infertile female). How does one reconcile the verse, which mentions only male and female, with the more complex set of sexes and gender roles described in the Talmud and the even more complex variety of sexes and gender identities in modern life? The author reminds us of a tendency in the Hebrew Bible to use a part to refer to a whole. Evening and morning do not constitute a day. What about noon, afternoon, and night? Just so, "male" and "female" can refer to "all sexes, such as, but not limited to, male and female."
Reading this essay reminded me of Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum of CBST getting arrested for sitting on the sidewalk in front of the Israeli embassy, holding a sign that said "we are ALL made in God's image". Is that such a radical idea? Apparently.
Lately, I've felt disconnected from both Jewish and queer communities. Reading this book, and the accompanying Torah and haftarah portions, is an attempt to reconnect. I'm embarrassed to say that for all my lip-service about how great it is that we Jews are always reinterpreting the Bible rather than taking it literally like fundamentalist Christians do (and having attended fundie Christian schools for nine years of my life, I know how literal those interpretations can be), I'm largely ignorant of the variety of Jewish Biblical interpretation. In the back of my mind, the Bible still reeks of slews, begats and fear.
Now, I'm reading _The Ordering of Love: New and Collected Poems of Madeleine L'Engle_, and _Torah Queeries_. The latter contains a drash, or commentary, on each Torah portion, starting with Bereishit (Genesis 1:1- 6:8). The book reminds me of how much I miss attending Congrehation Beit Simchat Torah in NYC. The commentary on Bereishit focuses upon Genesis 1:27: "And God created man in His image, in the image of God He created them." The author explains how the rabbis who wrote the Talmud recognized FIVE sexes, not two. Sexes mentioned in the Talmud include: male, female, androgynos (person with male and female sex organs), tumtum (person with indeterminate external genitals), saris (feminine, infertile male, sometimes translated as "eunuch"), and ailonit (masculine, infertile female). How does one reconcile the verse, which mentions only male and female, with the more complex set of sexes and gender roles described in the Talmud and the even more complex variety of sexes and gender identities in modern life? The author reminds us of a tendency in the Hebrew Bible to use a part to refer to a whole. Evening and morning do not constitute a day. What about noon, afternoon, and night? Just so, "male" and "female" can refer to "all sexes, such as, but not limited to, male and female."
Reading this essay reminded me of Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum of CBST getting arrested for sitting on the sidewalk in front of the Israeli embassy, holding a sign that said "we are ALL made in God's image". Is that such a radical idea? Apparently.
Lately, I've felt disconnected from both Jewish and queer communities. Reading this book, and the accompanying Torah and haftarah portions, is an attempt to reconnect. I'm embarrassed to say that for all my lip-service about how great it is that we Jews are always reinterpreting the Bible rather than taking it literally like fundamentalist Christians do (and having attended fundie Christian schools for nine years of my life, I know how literal those interpretations can be), I'm largely ignorant of the variety of Jewish Biblical interpretation. In the back of my mind, the Bible still reeks of slews, begats and fear.