Dear Hasafran Members,
Yesterday I gave a talk in Tel-Aviv on the topic of: WOMEN IN THE BIBLE -- HOW THEY MAY INSPIRE US TODAY, in relation to my biblical novels: THE SONG OF HANNAH, THE GARDEN OF RUTH and THE TRIUMPH OF DEBORAH. Some Hasafran members had expressed an interest in the talk, even though they could not attend personally. Below, there is a brief summary of it. If any of you would like to see the entire lecture in writing, please send me an e-mail to:[email protected] and I will send it to you as an attachment. Shalom, Eva Etzioni-Halevy www.women-in-the-bible.com ------------------------------------ WOMEN IN THE BIBLE -- HOW THEY MAY INSPIRE US TODAY A while ago, I participated in a symposium on women of the Bible at which a lady in the audience asked: Why should we be interested in biblical women? They were concerned mainly with marriage and bearing sons, while we, today, have so many more ambitions for our lives. But this is very challenging question, is based on a misconception. While the women of the Bible lived thousands of years ago, in essence we are still similar to them in our hopes and anxieties. Hence listening to their voices may have an empowering effect on us. For one thing, although they lived in a male dominated society, in which they were downtrodden, most of them were strong women. They did not merely sit around, meekly accepting fate. Instead, they took destiny into their own hands and shaped it to do their bidding. What we can learn from biblical women is that women are strong and capable. That, no matter what the obstacles, we can draw on our feminine strength to achieve what we aspire to. Also, contrary to their image, biblical women were NOT concerned solely with marriage and bearing sons, but also with a whole variety of other issues. In this sense they are particularly close to us today, an era in which we celebrate diversity, and each woman realizing herself in her own way. For instance, Tamar in the book of GENESIS struggled successfully to become a single mother. Deborah in the book of JUDGES "broke the glass ceiling" and became a religious and national leader. And there are many more examples. Hence, what today's women can also learn from women in the Bible is: "I don't have to fit into a trend. Whatever is right for me, I can achieve it." I decided to turn the spotlight on these amazing women, and amplify their voices, so that they could be heard loud and clear across the generations. I wrote some of their stories in a manner that is faithful to the Scripture, but makes for light, entertaining reading and can be enjoyed no less by people who have never held a Bible in their hands. Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) =========================================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: [email protected] SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: Listproc @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: galron.1 @ osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html History: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/history.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
