Until the discussion of Lilith came up in class last week, I was unaware that two different stories of creation existed. Naturally, I was enraged to find out that Lilith was essentially condemned for being created equal to Adam. I have participated in past discussions about today’s gender norms being influenced by the interpretations of “Original Sin”, but the story of Lilith seems to have much more of a responsibility of not only the interactions between men and women, but women and women as well.

            One of the reasons I was so taken back by the story of Lilith is that I also felt that (as far as reform Hebrew School taught me), the female figures of biblical stories were just as significant as many of the men. Even in prayers, like the Avot, the wives of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Sara, Rachel and Leach) are mentioned in the same breath. Perhaps that is just a testament to the political correctness my synagogue was adhering to, but I find it difficult to reconcile that her story is so much less referred to than the “standing” story of Adam and Eve.

            Additionally, all offense aside, I find it interesting that that concept of women as equals to men, though obviously repudiated, came before women as second to men. The thought that this societal perception came to someone’s consciousness then was changed is mind-blowing to me. What if Lilith had survived as a successful character? What if she was constructed to collaborate equally with men and women? What would society be like today if the Bible dictated that the first woman had just as much pull as the first man? In the same respect, without a biblical baby-eating woman running around, would the dynamics between women change as well? It’s not uncommon for women to feel threatened by other women, especially strangers; I find it too coincidental for this to have nothing to do with the story of Lilith.

            While both Bibles are filled with “healthy” moral standards, there are certain interpretations that have manipulated society into a hierarchy that has become difficult to dispute considering how old these origins actually are. They cloud the argument of nature versus nurture in terms of gender roles. We will never know what it is to live in a society uninfluenced by Biblical guidelines, and I find that to be a pretty haunting reality.

When we discussed about ‘Childbirth and Magic,’ I was fascinated by the controversial biblical figures. It was the first time I have ever heard about ‘Lilith.’ While I was reading the chapter, she was ‘a witch who strangles children’ as it was portrayed in it. However, during our class discussion, I was surprised to learn that she is used as an explanation for the two creation stories. Then, she is viewed from a different perspective by the feminists. And, all those amulets made to protect babies from being killed by her!
It was also interesting how King David who was a great and religious king and yet, who also had an infamous personal life became the most righteous and devoted man midrashic literature. The six-pointed star, the “Shield of David,” was even identified as the “primary symbol of Judaism.” Jacob who tricked his father also became like the father of the twelve tribes of Israel.
But then, these figures reminded me of all those controversial  figures in history of other religions. In the Hindu epic, ‘The Ramayana’, Dashanan is portrayed as a completely bad person who would not think about good or bad consequences and would do anything to get what he wanted. However, in some modern literature, some scholars and writers turned that character of his into something that should be admired for and that the real hero of the story was him and not Rama.
The life story of the sixth Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso, is also a debatable story. Even though he was not considered as the right leader and capable of performing his duties as the Dalai Lama by some people, especially by Chinese people, Tibetan looked at his actions from a different viewpoint and his songs and poems are one of the most popular in Tibet now.
Although these may not have that much of a connection to our course materials and discussions, it was just fascinating for me how different aspects of various religions can be related not only on the doctrinal level, but also on mythical and historical level.

The first time I really learned about Lilith was in a class I took last year called Love Sex and the Hebrew Texts, during which we discussed many of the biblical Jewish tales. The story of Lilith was one of those tales. Lilith is a significant figure within the Judaic, Islamic and Christian religions. She was Adam’s first wife. She and Adam were created from the clay of the earth at the same time and because of this Lilith felt that she was equal to Adam. Adam disagreed. He felt that despite the fact that they were created at the same time, he was superior to her. The problem between them began when Lilith wanted to be on top during intercourse. Adam refused; he felt that because he was superior to her, he should lie on top. Because of Adam’s refusal, Lilith left. Lilith’s continued refusal to return to Adam, she was labeled as a demon.

The portrayal of Lilith depends entirely upon the context in which one learns about her. Over time, Lilith has been portrayed as a demon, the first feminist, a “bitch”, or a baby killer. After Eve was created, Lilith’s sole demonic purpose was to kill newborn babies. I have an issue with the fact that solely because Lilith didn’t want to deal with Adam’s crap (essentially) she was turned into something that symbolized a threat to human society and future generations all together. Women today are constantly threatened by strong, confident, and self-sufficient women like Lilith. Women continually feel like they need to protect and defend what’s theirs because of this fear. By portraying Lilith as demonic, we only further the notion that women who demand equality are only trying to abate the way our society works.

This story makes it clear that the power struggle between men and women dates back to the biblical times. The patriarchal systems within Christianity, Judaism and Islam consistently give men the upper hand in this power struggle and seem to frequently ostracize women who fight for equality. Will this ever change? And if it ultimately will, the question then becomes when? When will these three religions look back to the bible and start pushing for equality?

I was pretty familiar with the story of Lilith before I had read about her in Shalom Sabar’s article “Childbirth and Magic: Jewish Folklore and Material Magic.” As a Christian studying the Bible on my own, I had many questions about the first two chapters of Genesis. It seemed to me that the discrepancies between them seemed obvious and that they were definitely contradicting stories. However, when I asked my Pastor at church about it, he seemed to shrug off the question, giving me some vague and unsatisfying explanation. Further research about Genesis led to many fascinating subjects such as the gap theory (states that there is an interval of millions of years between the first two versus of chapter one in genesis, thus explaining the age of the Earth), but as a woman and a feminist I found the story of Lilith especially interesting.

The character of Lilith is prevalent not only in Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, but in other religious societies as well, like for example, the ancient Egyptian culture. I think this partly has to do with the influence and maintenance of control over women by society and patriarchal structures. The archetype of the wild destructive woman who lives beyond social norms can be used to engender fear among women and discourage people to live outside of the norm. When researching about Lilith, I thought it was interesting that she is often personified as an owl but it was frustrating to me to find that in certain translations of the Bible her name actually shows up in the text and in others it refers to her as an owl. I guess in a naïve sort of way I thought the KJV Bible would be the most accurate so I was a little surprised when in the book of Isaiah it did not directly cite Lilith. This makes me wonder a lot about translations and how a translator decides to define certain words.

I was also able to learn more about Lilith through the course I took last semester called “Women, Gender, and Judaism.” I found that instead of being a character that is feared and detested by the female community, it has been adopted by the Jewish feminist community as a symbol of female resistance and empowerment. So going from a perceptive where women almost celebrate Lilith, it became particularly interesting to learn about how Lilith was incorporated into the amulets and other forms of protection for the use of women during childbirth. Another thing that I found interesting/amusing that is more related to the general theme of protection for a mother in labor than directly to Lilith, is when Sabar’s article discussed the tradition of having the Torah with a women in labor for protection. This custom led to some interesting conflicts and adaptations. Since women were considered “unclean” after giving birth than she might desecrate the Torah, so in some Jewish communities, in order to fix this problem they would tie a string to the Torah in the synagogue and the woman would hold on to the end of the string. A little off topic, but still quite interesting.

Although I am not an expert on the character Lilith, as a member of American society I feel that my understanding of her is important, at least in representing a popular understanding of her and her role in Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. As Sabar explains, Lilith, Adam’s first wife, wanted to be positioned over Adam during intercourse, claiming that since they were both made from the clay of the earth, they were equal. Adam refused to accept these accommodations; he felt that he was superior to Lilith, and therefore, that he should lie on top. As a result of Adam’s refusal, Lilith left him. Furthermore, Lilith’s refusal to return to Adam, who surely would have continued to insist upon her inferiority, transformed her into a demon.

I was fascinated upon learning about this story in “Religion and Modern Culture,” a religion course taught by Professor Donaldson. To me, the story of Lilith represents that of the first feminist, the first woman to demand equality in a relationship. However, just as might occur today, because Lilith refused to be subservient to a man, she was cast aside, labeled a demon, or as we might say today, an “ice queen” or a “bitch.” The man, on the other hand, found a new woman, Eve, one that accepts her role as the subservient partner. This story sounds all too familiar, or perhaps, all too much like an episode of “Sex and the City.” Not only do I find this story problematic, but I also find problems with the ways in which Lilith is represented as a result of her actions. Lilith became a demon whose purpose is to harm newborn babies; in others words, women who demand equality threaten our social system and the birth of future generations, much like some argued only decades ago that women having full time jobs (i.e. equality) would cause a population decline or ruin our family values. Additionally, Lilith is a figure that women themselves are frightened of and that they must take protective measures against; sisterhood itself has been destroyed because of the ways that Lilith is represented. Representations of Lilith as a demon only serve to perpetuate the idea that women who demand equality in a relationship are evil and attempting to overthrow our social system.

It seems to me that this story shows how, since the creation of the Earth, there has been a constant struggle for power between men and women, one that men always win. Is the purpose of this story to show that men are indeed superior to women, and women who challenge this system are deviants worthy of expulsion from society? Sabar claims that the purpose of this story was to legitimize the use of amulets, but I question whether there were additional, more chauvinistic, motives for writing this story. It would be interesting to see how modern progressive Jews, Muslims, and Christians reconcile their faith, which involves such patriarchal designs, with their demands for equality, an idea that, according to the story of Lilith, seems to be disregarded in the Bible.