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Ilona Rashkow

SUNY: Stony Brook University, Comparative Literary and Cultural Studies, Emeritus

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Ilona Rashkow who holds a PhD in Comparative Literature is Professor Emerita at the SUNY Stony Brook and teaches regularly at New York University. She presents papers routinely at national and international academic conferences; has been the Visiting Aaron Aronoff Chair in Judaic Studies at the University of Alabama; and a Visiting Research Scholar at the Jewish Theological Seminary.

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Papers by Ilona Rashkow

WHO WAS LAMENTING AND WHY? LAMENTATIONS AND THE SUMERIAN CITY LAMENTS

ONES WHO HAVE FALLEN OUT” (NEFEL) - SPONTANEOUS, ACCIDENTAL, AND INTENTIONAL MISCARRIAGE LAWS IN ANCIENT ISRAEL

Miscarriages, 1 whether spontaneous, accidental, or intentional (i.e., abortion) were a topic of ... more Miscarriages, 1 whether spontaneous, accidental, or intentional (i.e., abortion) were a topic of comments, actions taken, and laws in ancient Israel. As a subject of historical inquiry, miscarriages in ancient Israel present specific challenges that have resulted in a limited body of scholarship. Most of the extant sources are textual traditions composed by men and may be far removed from the actual experiences of women. The dearth of sources produced by women also makes it difficult to reconstruct how women understood and dealt with pregnancy loss. The Bible refers to spontaneous miscarriages as "ones who have fallen out" (nefel). 2 An indirect biblical reference to a spontaneous miscarriage is Miriam's skin disease, described in striking terms: "Let her not be like one dead, who emerges from his mother's womb with half his flesh eaten away". 3 ACCIDENTLY CAUSING A MISCARRIAGE Biblical law requires payment for a fetus lost due to an accident (i.e., two people fight and one of them accidentally pushes a pregnant woman and she miscarries). 4 The text describes two situations: in one case, no harm (ason) results from the physical blow dealt to the pregnant woman and the perpetrator is fined; in the other case, harm does result from the injury and the perpetrator receives capital punishment: When men fight, and one of them pushes a pregnant woman and her children emerge, but no other damage ensues, he shall be fined according as the woman's husband may exact from him, the

THE REBELLIOUS SON: CAN HIS EXECUTION BE JUSTIFIED

The Biblical law of the rebellious son is very specific: “If a man has a wayward and defiant son,... more The Biblical law of the rebellious son is very specific: “If a man has a wayward and defiant son, who does not heed his father or mother and does not obey them even after they discipline him, his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his town at the public place of his community. They shall say to the elders of his town, ‘This son of ours is disloyal and defiant; he does not heed us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.’ Thereupon the men of his town shall stone him to death. Thus you will sweep out evil from your midst: all Israel will hear and be afraid” (Deut. 21: 18-21).
This paper addresses three points: first, whether the provisions of Deut 21: 18-21 were ever applied; second, if not, was it because the penalty was viewed as excessively harsh; and third was the law only theoretical, in effect, a “cautionary” construct.
This paper differs from that of other scholars in that I apply contemporaneous writings as well as modern jurisprudence in my argument.

RAPE AND VENGEANCE: THE RAPE(S) OF DINAH

Feminist Perspectives from the Hebrew Bible

The Healing Power of Judaism

Popular folklore has it that the watchword of every Jewish mother is, Ess, ess meine kind (Eat, e... more Popular folklore has it that the watchword of every Jewish mother is, Ess, ess meine kind (Eat, eat my child), or the modern-day alternative, "Try it, you'll like it." Despite these favorite mottos, traditional advice from the Jewish sages was far more concerned with matters of health than is ordinarily assumed. There has been an enormous growth in the popularity of manufactured kosher products, even among non-Jews, driven, in part, by an increasing interest in healthier foods. However, keeping kosher is not necessarily equated with healthy living. Both eating to excess and high cholesterol foods are unhealthy-regardless of whether or not they are kosher. Jewish dietary laws are not health laws, but religious laws addressing the spirit rather than the body, even though many of them contribute to the prevention of illness. Similarly, some have suggested that many of the provisions in the Book of Leviticus are a model for later practice. For example, the provisions relating to what is described as leprosy are not dissimilar from 21st-century communicable disease legislation. The traditional view is that these various requirements, while they may have been appropriate from a public health standpoint, are concerned with matters of purity of the body and spirituality. And of course, the leprosy referred to may not have been what is now referred to as Hansen's disease. The same could be said for brit milah (ritual circumcision). Despite all the controversy that arises from time to time as to the value of circumcision in disease prevention, Jews perform it for purely religious reasons.

The Garden of God

SPONTANEOUS, ACCIDENTAL, AND INTENTIONAL MISCARRIAGE LAWS IN ANCIENT ISRAEL

Miscarriages, 1 whether spontaneous, accidental, or intentional (i.e., abortion) were a topic of ... more Miscarriages, 1 whether spontaneous, accidental, or intentional (i.e., abortion) were a topic of comments, actions taken, and laws in ancient Israel. As a subject of historical inquiry, miscarriages in ancient Israel present specific challenges that have resulted in a limited body of scholarship. Most of the extant sources are textual traditions composed by men and may be far removed from the actual experiences of women. The dearth of sources produced by women also makes it difficult to reconstruct how women understood and dealt with pregnancy loss. SPONTANEOUS MISCARRIAGES The Bible refers to spontaneous miscarriages as "ones who have fallen out" (nefel). 2 An indirect biblical reference to a spontaneous miscarriage is Miriam's skin disease, described in striking terms: "Let her not be like one dead, who emerges from his mother's womb with half his flesh eaten away". 3 ACCIDENTLY CAUSING A MISCARRIAGE Biblical law requires payment for a fetus lost due to an accident (i.e., two people fight and one of them accidentally pushes a pregnant woman and she miscarries). 4 The text describes two situations: in one case, no harm (ason) results from the physical blow dealt to the pregnant woman and the perpetrator is fined; in the other case, harm does result from the injury and the perpetrator receives capital punishment: When men fight, and one of them pushes a pregnant woman and her children emerge, but no other damage ensues, he shall be fined according as the woman's husband may exact from him, the

Ritual, Psychology, and the Hebrew Bible

Anthropologists label many activities as "rituals" ranging from private ceremonies (including tho... more Anthropologists label many activities as "rituals" ranging from private ceremonies (including those with just one person or only a few participants) to large gatherings and from single acts to long sequences spread over months or years. The occasions for ritualized behaviors vary also, either contingencies such as illness or misfortune; lifeevents, such as birth, initiation, and death; or recurrent occasions such as seasonal changes.

LOOKING THROUGH THE WINDOW: FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE

The window is a recurrent motif in literature (and art) since antiquity. 1 On one hand, the windo... more The window is a recurrent motif in literature (and art) since antiquity. 1 On one hand, the window allows and sometimes invites the outsider or viewer to "intrude" into the private space of someone else and satisfy their curiosity or even voyeuristic interest. On the other hand, it allows someone cloistered inside to look out to see the real world. Both of these are at play in the story of Isaac and Rebekah's move to Gerar. Isaac and Rebekah traveled to the Philistine city of Gerar because of a famine (Gen 26:8). In order to save his life, Isaac asked his wife to pass herself off as his sister. 2 The couple lived together peacefully until Abimelech king of the Philistines looked through the window, and he saw Isaac being playful 3 with his wife Rebecca (Gen 26:8). Unlike in the case of Abram and Sarai, Abimelech did not have Rebekah immediately brought to him. Through which window was Abimelech looking? One option is through the window of his own house (his palace), and the other option is through the window of Isaac's house. The use of the modifying phrase king of the Philistines seems to indicate that the looking was done from Abimelech's window, most likely the one in the outer court of the royal palace, at which the king showed himself to the people on ceremonial occasions. 4 Palaces are large, with sizeable windows, often high up. Thus, Abimelech would have had an excellent view of many houses. 5

"CHATTEL OR…?": LAWS RELATING TO FEMALE SLAVES IN ANCIENT ISRAEL

Judaism & Feminism

Ilona Rashkow Jacques Lacan, the French psychoanalyst whose thought has had such a broad influenc... more Ilona Rashkow Jacques Lacan, the French psychoanalyst whose thought has had such a broad influence on literary theory since the 1960s, considered psychoanalysis as much a part of philosophy as of medicine. Ironically, although Lacan deviated from the mainstream of psychoanalytic thought and was expelled from the International Psychoanalytic Association, he believed himself to be returning to Freud rather than departing from him. Despite the fact that Jacques Lacan is not a pro-feminist thinker, feminists have been drawn to his work, since he attempts to "rewrite" Freudianism. Indeed, one of the primary objections to Freudian psychoanalytic theory is his idea of penis envy. (For a number of different perspectives on the current state of the debate between feminists and various kinds of psychoanalysis, see Wright, 1984.) Torok, for example, argues that "penis envy" is not based on biological fact but is a misconception, since a common phallic phase does not characterize the infantile development of both sexes (1964). What Lacan seeks to do is to reinterpret Freud in light of structuralist and post-structuralist theories of discourse. Because Lacan focuses on one's place in society and, above all, one's relationship to language, he shifts the discussion of penis envy from Freud's biological penis to the penis as a philosophical signifier. As a result, many scholars find his writings more relevant to both males and females. Briefly, where Freud views the mechanisms of the unconscious as generated by libido (sexual energy), Lacan centers the theory of the unconscious on the sense within us of something being absent. Lacan describes two "levels" of absence. The less intense awareness of absence can take the form of mere lack (manque) or of need (besoin). Both of these levels of absence force the psyche to make demands. A deeper feeling of absence takes the higher form of desire (desir). Lacan defines desir as twofold: First, it is an unconscious feeling toward an object; second, this object can and does desire us in return. Lacan's terms for the universal symbol, or signifier, of desir is the Phallus. It is important not to confuse the Phallus in this sense with the male sexual organ, the penis. According to Lacanian theory, both sexes experience the absence of and desire for the Phallus-which may be one reason Lacan's restructuring of Freud has appealed to feminists such as Hélène Cixous and Luce Irigaray. Indeed, the sexually critical and liberatory potential of Lacan

In Our Image We Create Him, Male and Female We Create Them: The E/Affect of Biblical Characterization

Narratives-and biblical stories are no exception-are concerned with temporal events and incidents as

I AM THE LORD WHO HEALS YOU (EXODUS 15:26

The fundamental concept regarding health in the Hebrew Bible is that God is the creator of life a... more The fundamental concept regarding health in the Hebrew Bible is that God is the creator of life and the giver of health and well-being. People were created as a total entity in a perfect state. 1 The main source of information about medicine during the Biblical period is the Bible. No general ancient Hebrew medical documents seem to exit, although the Talmud reports that King Hezekiah "suppressed the Book of Remedies." 2 Among the earliest prayers recorded in the Bible are those for the sick. Moses prayed for his sister, Miriam: Heal her now, O God, I beseech Thee (Num. 12:13), and when Hezekiah was gravely ill, he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord (Isa. 38:2). Jewish healing prayers follow a biblical model. Jeremiah is the source of the ancient prayer recited still in daily Jewish liturgy: Heal us, O Lord, and we shall be healed (Jer. 17:14). Psalms are recited daily for someone who is critically ill; the Mi SheBerakh prayer is sung for "healing, courage, and faith" in front of the Torah; and late-medieval Yiddish prayers (tekhines) written by Jewish mothers ask God for safe pregnancies and well children. Except for prayer, Judaism has no required rite for restoring health. The Jerusalem Temple did not offer treatment directly, as did the contemporaneous healing temples of Asclepios, even though sick people surely must have come there to offer petitionary and thanksgiving sacrifice. After the Temple was destroyed in 70 CE, TB Avoda Zara 55a declared that there is no healing in shrines, perhaps referring to pagan sites but also precluding Jewish spiritual healing.

Hebrew Bible Translation and the Fear of Judaization

The Hebrew Bible is certainly a source for the English Renaissance Bibles and the translations ar... more The Hebrew Bible is certainly a source for the English Renaissance Bibles and the translations are "biblical," yet they do not reflect wholly the Hebrew text. In part, this is due to problems of translation. In greater part the differences between the texts are due to the fear of the stigma of "judaization." This article discusses sixteenth-century perceptions of the issue and the approaches taken by the English Renaissance biblical translators to avoid this taint. It examines the question in general, and focuses specifically on Genesis 34 as an example of how these translators faced this supposed dilemma. ENGLISH RENAISSANCE HEBREW BIBLE translation began, of course, with a comparison of the original Hebrew text to the Latin Vulgate translation, and many differences were discovered. One routine explanation for these differences was to blame the Jews for adjusting the Hebrew text for their own purposes, as the dedication "To the Reader" of the Rheims Douay Bible makes clear: "But the ancient best lerned Fathers, & Doctors of the Church, do much complaine, and testifie to vs, that. .. the Hebrew. .. Editions are fouly corrupted by Iewes." However absurd this accusation appears in light of modern biblical scholarship, the fact that leading humanists and patrons of the New Learning were convinced of its truth is certainly a reflection of the dynamics of biblical translation. Regardless of how the text was to be translated, all agreed that it should not be "judaized." This term was used as a catchall 'The term "English Renaissance Bible" is used throughout this paper as an archetype consisting of the Coverdale, Geneva, Rheims-Douay, and Authorized King James Bibles.

Evil in the Hebrew Bible, Mishnah, and Talmud

Esther, Book of The fifth and last of the Megilloth, included among the Writings in the Hebrew canon

The book opens with a banquet held by the Persian king Ahasuerus for all the inhabitants of his c... more The book opens with a banquet held by the Persian king Ahasuerus for all the inhabitants of his capital, Susa. After a drinking bout, the king summons his queen, Vashti, so the court might admire her great beauty. Vashti refuses, and the angry king banishes her. When he regrets losing her, his counselors suggest an empire-wide search for a new queen. All eligible virgins are gathered into his harem. Among them is Esther (Heb. "Hadassah," Esth. 2:7), the protagonist, who wins the regard of all who know her. Esther pleases Ahasuerus so greatly that he makes her his queen. Subsequently, Esther's uncle Mordecai discovers a plot to assassinate the king and reports it to Esther, thus saving Ahasuerus' life. Some time later, the king promotes Haman the Agagite as vizier. Haman demands that all the people bow down to him, but Mordecai refuses. Angered, Haman seeks revenge by plotting to slaughter all the Jews in the Persian Empire. Mordecai learns of the plot and turns to Esther to intercede with the king. At the climax of the story, Esther, risking her life, appears unsummoned before the king in an attempt to save her people. She gains Ahasuerus' favor and then, in a series of skillful maneuvers, uncovers Haman's plot and foils his scheme. Haman is put to death, the enemies of the Jews are destroyed, and Mordecai is elevated to vizier. The book ends with Esther and Mordecai instituting the festival of Purim to commemorate these great events. As the synopsis shows, the plot is quite simple, and there is much more emphasis upon action than character study. Indeed, the characters seem stereotypical-Mordecai and Esther are the righteous wise, struggling against the cunning Haman and his wife for the favor of the powerful but witless Ahasuerus.

Psychology and the Hebrew Bible Read through the Lenses of Freud and Lacan

I first met Adele Berlin in 1984 when I asked her advice about pursuing a Ph.D. with a concentrat... more I first met Adele Berlin in 1984 when I asked her advice about pursuing a Ph.D. with a concentration in both Hebrew Bible and psychoanalytic analytic theory. She suggested the Comparative Literature Department at the University of Maryland, where I could study both. I am indebted to her for her mentoring and encouragement. Until recently, reading the Bible was thought to be a rather straightforward procedure. The goal was to respond "properly" by trying to "understand" the text and grasp the "meaning." This changed once psychology became one of the more accepted forms of biblical studies, although, as D. A. Kille has pointed out, psychological biblical criticism has been one of the hidden avenues of biblical interpretation due to the relative lack of organization and coherence within the literature. 1 However, recent shifts in the discipline of biblical studies, along with the increasing influence of psychological perspectives on culture in general have made psychological approaches to the Bible more visible. 2 Of course, the use of psychology in interpreting biblical texts is no more a conceptually unified critical position in biblical studies than in literary studies more generally. The term is associated with scholars

DAUGHTERS AND FATHERS IN GENESIS