Righteous in Your Generation

A response to Righteous in Your Generation

I found this fascinating post on the
Huffington News Religion page: http://www.odysseynetworks.org/news/onscripture-the-torah-righteous-in-your-generation

Righteous in Your Generation is yet another exercise in perverse perspectives.  Adam is styled as the ‘androgynous human.’  Noah ‘“in his time”’ had ‘outstanding righteousness;’ but, ‘in another era, he would not have been worthy of such a complimentary description.’  Rabbi Fendrick continues in her observations with a series of contrasts between Abraham and Noah.  All of these, along with the adjective ‘androgynous’, are without support.  They are arguments from silence.  At this point, we just want to respond, why don’t you simply stick with what the Scripture says, and stop inventing your own pseudo-biblical literature?

However, Rabbi Fendrick must have a point.  What is it?  Does it have validity, even without the support of documentary evidence?  For example, is her point?

‘In every generation, we are called to act.  Individually and collectively, our lives are an ongoing opportunity to discern a path and do work that is of genuine service, to hold fast to and act on our highest values—and to resist apathy and lethargy, avoidance and self-justification.

‘Answering that call is both heroic and human, extraordinary and ordinary.  It is holy work—and it is as simple as the core of what it means to be a human being, an ish or isha, created in God’s image.’

These are ideas that are easily supported from the rest of Scripture, if not from Gensis 6:9-11:32.  These are ideas to which most of us can readily adhere.  Is this Rabbi Fendrick’s point?  Well, No, it is not her point, it is only part of her point, because she goes on to conclude with the following introduction to a concluding poem.

‘In her 1977 poem “Natural Resources”, which connects the struggle to protect the environment with feminism, the late poet Adrienne Rich ends with these words:’

Here is Rabbi Fendrick’s point: ‘to protect the environment with feminism.’  Here is how we are to answer the noble call mentioned above, by feminism.  At this point, we see that Rabbi Fendrick is so incredibly sexist that we can hardly believe our eyes.  In reality, Rabbi Fendrick has been developing this point all along.

Adam is androgynous (an offensive, loaded sexist term), an ish, an earthling.  Woman is even lower, an isha.  All this is true enough (It is a literarily accurate report of the Biblical text.  The Bible does not teach that Eve is lower because she is isha.  That is merely Rabbi Fendrick’s false implication.  The Bible is never sexist.), but it avoids the pertinent fact that the name Eve means Life.  It is true that Adam means dirt.  Eve (Zoe) is not an earthling like Adam, even though she was taken from Adam.  Adam is without a doubt Eve’s leading head, but she alone bears the title of honor.  Why?  Because, only Eve can bear a child.  The Messiah can only come from Eve... from Mary, the second Eve.

Noah’s wife is ‘unnamed.’  Noah’s son’s wives are ‘unnamed.’  Noah is simply ish.  There is no isha.  Is Rabbi Fendrick sowing the idea that Noah is the miserable failure she paints him to be, because he failed to honor his wife, thus indicating his central character flaw.  Rabbi Fendrick would have us believe that Noah is a failure because he is ish, a man.  Women can fix that problem by feminist activism.

Besides denigrating Noah, his wife, their children, and their children’s wives.  Besides demeaning their genuine contribution to the progress and survival of the human race.  Besides belittling the fact that we are what we are by the grace of God.  Besides all this, Rabbi Fendrick promotes a solution that can never work.  Sexism is doomed to failure.  Feminism is doomed to failure.  Only when ish and isha work together cooperatively can the human race find favor with God in obedience to Him.

Am I, as a man, delighted to continue honoring Eve (Zoe) for what she is: namely, Life?  You bet I am!  “Rejoice Mary, full of grace, you are blessed among women (Luke 1:28-45).”