Shevat 21, 5773
For me, Parashah Yitro is one of those troubling Torah portions.
As a preface, I do not think it coincidental that the parashah which opens with father-in-law Jethro strongly suggesting to Moses to delegate the heavy responsibility of doling out judgments to the Israelites also includes God doling out the Ten Commandments, the ultimate rules for Jacob's descendants. Microcosms and macrocosms. This seems to be the section dealing with the giving of commandments, the delegation of authority, and the acceptance of covenants. Indeed, from a strictly literary standpoint, Jethro's arrival on the scene can be interpreted as foreshadowing ("...your guide to quality literature").
Yet this particular chapter in the Book of Exodus leaves more question marks than periods, commas or exclamation points in my head. To no surprise, this happens every year (so far). This portion is troubling for me for two (and a half*) reasons:
(Insert obligatory spoiler alert here.)
1. How did Purity = abstinence?
Exodus: 19: 10: “and the Eternal said to Moses, “Go to the
people and warn them to stay pure today and tomorrow. Let them wash their
clothes.
Exodus 19: 14-15: “Moses came down from the mountain to the
people and warned the people to stay pure, and they washed their clothes. 15)
And he said to the people,” Be ready for the third day: [the men among] you
should not go near a woman.”
So God never says, implies or otherwise equates purity
with abstinence. It is Moses who first makes that connection by adding "you should not go near women.". Why does Moses feel the need to qualify what God told him?
One interpretation:
Also, note in each passage that the command to stay
pure is immediately followed by the commandment to wash their clothes. A
connection is being made here between cleanliness/hygiene and purity. To be pure is to
remain clean. Physically? Emotionally? Mentally?
I began to wonder why God would care about sexual abstinence. Why not demand a fast, such as the type of Yom Kippur? (In fact, isn't the Yom Kippur fast a form of purifying?)
Perhaps God is asking for abstinence as a way of a test: Refrain from sex to show you can follow my instructions? (After all, the Israelites pretty much failed
in following God's instructions
regarding the manna.) Therefore, God chooses a very natural act which has a
strong emotional component and biological drive to it. In other words, God
is commanding the Israelites to forego sexual relations to prove that they will
be able to follow not only this particular imperative but the imperatives to
come?
Still, I wondered, why sex, and why frame the act of sex in terms
of purity/non-purity? (Well, virginity was probably already a social commodity, and if it was so ubiquitous among the people of the time, they
were probably already equating purity with virginity/non-sexual relations. But
then, if they were already so familiar with the idea of purity equaling abstinence,
why should Moses feel obligated to restate/re-interpret it at the mountain
base?
One d’var on the subject:
“Parshat Yitro - Interpreting G-d's Approach at Sinai” (Torah Queeries)
As you might have gleaned, Moses is exhibiting some definitive sexism in his admonition for the men of the tribe to forego being in contact with women, since there is no corresponding warning for women to stay away from the men. I am loathed to simply write this off as merely the gendered convention of the time since the Torah is not usually referenced as a sociological/anthropological resource (that I know of). (<---but I would love to read the research which does examine it as such.) (<---geeky academic moment. sorry.) Many look to the Torah for guidance and inspiration, as a way to inform and to challenge and to open new avenues of query. As such, Moses' reinterpretation cannot be so simply dismissed, and therefore remains a pebble inside my mind's shoe. (Gee, thanks Moses.)
Finally, as a coda of thought provocation, the d'var from Shabbat Services.
(* 1/2 reason. Yitro = Jethro, which is the name of the main character on NCIS, a television show which drops more than its fair share of Jewish references. Indeed, The State of Israel and Mossad play no small and problematic supporting roles in this crime drama, unique in American commercial television, and two of its latest episodes were entitled "Shabbat Shalom" and "Shiva". And yes, let's point out that one if its characters is named Ziva. While I have not found any good blogs or research on this ongoing correlation, I remain hopeful.)
