In
the synagogue, a fellow congregant showed me a surprising interpretation of a
verse in the Torah about Amalek’s attack on the Israelites in the desert. This
is based on Deuteronomy 25:18[i],
which is usually translated as Amalek “surprised you on the
march, when you were famished and weary, and cut down all the stragglers in
your rear".” However, there is an interpretation
of this verse that reads as Amalek “cut off the Israelites’ penises and
flung them heavenward, [to God] saying, ‘This is what You have chosen, take for
Yourself what You have chosen[ii].”
This bizarre interpretation leads one to wonder what moral teachings are to be inferred from the symbolism in this story. In understanding Jewish sacred text, it is useful to remember that there are 70 faces of the Torah[iii], eg. Every verse has multiple meanings. Perhaps, one meaning of this story is alluding to a Jewish approach to sexuality that is nuanced, in that it affirms a positive attitude to sex as joyful, loving, wholesome and even holy, but also harmful if not constrained and directed.
Amalek performed this brutal gesture to make a point in a culture war against the Israelites. “Amalek was opposed to Israel, and the form of Israel is that they [the males, of course] are circumcised. It is with circumcision that they are Israelites. This is the reason why Amalek cut off their circumcised penises because Amalek was opposed to circumcision[iv].” According to this teaching, circumcision is essential to the identity and idea of the Jewish people.
One way to explain this is to consider Maimonides’ explanation of circumcision. “As regards circumcision, I think that one of its objects is to limit sexual intercourse, and to weaken the organ of procreation as far as possible, and thus cause man to be moderate regarding the sexual act…This commandment… is a means for perfecting man's moral shortcomings. The bodily injury caused to that organ does not interrupt any vital function, nor does it destroy the power of procreation. Circumcision simply counteracts excessive lust…[v]”.
This teaching is one half of the picture when it comes to Judaism’s approach to sex. A call to the Jew for moderation in sex and other means of enjoying life makes it possible for him to achieve a measure of holiness[vi].
On the other hand, we have the very positive approach to sex in Judaism. Sex is portrayed as joyful in the verse: “Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked through the window and behold, Isaac was playing/making laughter [having sex] with Rebecca his wife[vii]”.
Sex is not just a Mitzvah, a positive commandment, when it leads to procreation[viii], but it is regarded as a Mitzva (commandment) and obligation for a man to please his wife and honour her right to sex[ix]. This obligation is understood more broadly as requiring the man to prioritise the woman’s pleasure during sex before his own[x], and an overall responsibility for a man to show understanding and be responsive to a woman’s emotional need to feel loved[xi].
Maimonides provides the following guidance: “[a man] should not be intimate with her [his wife] unless she is willing, and out of chatting and joy. Marital relations are forbidden while [he is] thinking of another woman, nor while drunk, while they are fighting, or in hatred, nor may he force her nor while she is afraid. Nor after he has decided to divorce her[xii]”. I understand this as affirming the value of bodily pleasure while also emphasising the emotional experience of making love and connecting. This is elegantly reflected in the use of the word “knowing” as a euphemism for sex[xiii]. “One should not think that there is anything disgusting, or any ugliness, God forbid, in the proper union[xiv]”, if it is done “as it should be” at the right time and with the proper intent.
One of Judaism’s aims is for us to be part of the world and partake of its pleasures in a measured way. We are invited to appreciate the flavours and textures of food[xv], but also to rise above our urges and bodily needs to attach ourselves to God, and to hold both seemingly opposed stances at the same time.
A descendent of Amalek, Haman, argued that “there is one nation [the Jews]… whose religious laws and ways were different from other nations[xvi]” and this difference was a valid reason for them to be annihilated. Perhaps the Jewish approach to be in the world and beyond it, unsettles the intolerant Amalekite who requires conformity for his own emotional security. By throwing the modified sexual organ toward the sky, the Amalekite is asserting there is no place for this ‘deviation’ from his norms, on his earth, but only in heaven. If you choose not to conform fully to the norms of the earth and you choose heavenly approaches, do them there not here[xvii]!
On Thursday 17 March 2022, we celebrated victory over Amalek and Haman with the religious festival of Purim, which is marked by wine, feasting and food gifts, as well as charity and storytelling. And except for any Jewish astronauts, we do this right here on earth!
[i]
Midrash Tanchuma, Devarim, Ki Tetzei 10, cited in Rashi on 25:18, this translation
is more of an interpretation than a translation. It is based on a verb related
to the word “tail” (Zanav in Hebrew), that could be translated literally as “he
tailed you”. The usual way of reading this verse is that Amalek attacked the
tail end of the Israelite people, the stragglers as interpreted by Ibn Ezra, Ralbag,
Chizkuni, Ohr Hachayim on Deuteronomy, 25:18
[ii]
Midrash Tanchuma
[iii]
Bamidbar Rabba, 13:16
[iv]
Gur Aryeh on Deuteronomy, 25:18
[v]
Maimonides, Guide for the Perplexed, 3:49, 11
[vi]
Ramban on Leviticus, 19:2
[vii] Genesis
26:8
[viii]
Talmud, Yavamot 65b
[ix]
Exodus 21:10, Raavad cited in Lamm, M. (1980), The Jewish Way in Love and
Marriage, Jonathan David Publishers, p. 137
[x]
Talmud, Brachos 60a
[xi] The
Stiepler gaon, igeres Hakodesh, in cited Abramov Y., & Abramov, T. (1994)
Two halves of a whole. Feldheim, p. 178
[xii]
Maimonides, laws of marriage 15:17-18, forbidden intercourse 21:12, drawing on
the Talmud Nedarim 20b
[xiii]
Me’iri, cited in Lamm, M. (1980), The Jewish Way in Love and Marriage, Jonathan
David Publishers, p. 135
[xiv]
Ramban, Iggeres Hakodesh, chapter 2, cited Abramov Y., & Abramov, T. (1994)
Two halves of a whole. Feldheim
[xv]
Seforno on Genesis 25:30
[xvi]
Esther 3:8
[xvii]
Be’er Basadeh, on Deuteronomy, 25:18
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