Dear Friends,
The classical Prayer Book of our people is known as the Siddur, and its basic format was established by an assembly of leading sages and the last of the prophets at the beginning of the Second Temple period. The Jewish media has recently reported that many Jews who did not have a traditional upbringing are rediscovering the spiritual beauty and power of the classical prayers found in the Siddur. We have begun to discuss the universal significance of some of these prayers, and in this letter, we shall discuss Gender terms for Hashem – the Compassionate and Life-giving One – within our prayers.
Although our tradition refers to various attributes of Hashem – including attributes which we understand as “masculine” or “feminine” – we are to recognize the Oneness and Unity of Hashem. This concept is expressed in the following verse from Anim Zemiros – a kabbalistic hymn which many congregations sing on Shabbos and the Festivals:
“They symbolized You in many varied visions; yet You are a Unity containing all the allegories.”
In this spirit, Maimonides writes in his “Book of Mitzvos” (Mitzvah 2): “The Creator of all things in existence and their First Cause is One.” Maimonides then cites the following proclamation: “Hear O Israel, Hashem is our God, Hashem is One” (Deut. 6:4).
The One Creator is the “First Cause” – the Unifying Source of all life. Our discussion on gender terms for Hashem must therefore be based on this sacred premise.
Within the Siddur, we find mention of the Shechinah – the Divine Presence. According to our tradition, the Shechinah expresses the “feminine” attributes of Hashem. The term Shechinah is related to the verb shochen – dwelling, for the Shechinah seeks to dwell with us on this earth. We are to therefore experience the intimate Divine Presence within this physical world, and according to “halacha” – the requirements of the Torah path – we are to become aware of the Shechinah when we pray. As Maimonides states in his halachic work, the Mishneh Torah:
“One should see one’s self as if one is standing before the Shechinah.” (The Book of Love, the Halachos of Prayer 4:16)
As we mentioned, the Shechinah expresses those attributes of Hashem that we understand as “feminine”; thus, this leads to the following question: If we are to be aware of the Shechinah when we pray, then why do our classical Hebrew prayers use the masculine form of Hebrew pronouns when addressing Hashem or referring to Hashem, rather than the feminine form? For example, the Hebrew word “ata” – you – is the masculine form, while the Hebrew word “att” – you – is the feminine form. In our prayers, we address Hashem as “Ata” – the masculine form.
The Kabbalah – the hidden wisdom of the Torah – discusses in great depth the “masculine” and “feminine” terms for Hashem; however, I am not a student of Kabbalah, and I am therefore not able to discuss with you the kabbalistic answers to the question we raised. What I will share with you is a possible answer that I first discussed with my rebbes. This answer is meant to serve as “food for thought”; moreover, I share it with the awareness that the explanations of finite human beings cannot adequately describe the Infinite One.
Within the physical world, the female receives the seed from the male, who acts as the source of the seed – the first cause; thus, feminine energy is associated with receiving the seed of life in order to nurture and protect it. The process of receiving also implies that there is another being who is giving. Hashem, however, is the First Cause and One; thus, when we mention Hashem in our prayers, we use pronouns which refer to the “masculine” aspect of Hashem, in order to stress that Hashem is the First Cause and One Source of all creation. Through strengthening our awareness that all creation comes from the One Source, we can strengthen our awareness that all creation, with all its diversity, is ultimately one.
Towards the beginning of our series, we described how Avraham, our father, and Sarah, our mother, taught the men and women of their generation that One God created all life; thus, when Avraham established a public center for hospitality, “he proclaimed the Name of Hashem, God of the Universe” (Genesis 21:33). As a result of this spiritual message, many people no longer viewed the world as an arena of competing gods with each individual or group worshiping a separate god; instead, they became aware of the One Unifying Source of all life.
Through the higher consciousness of the Unifying One, people became aware of their own unity. In this spirit, the Midrash, in its discussion of Avraham’s spiritual greatness, states that Avraham, “united all human beings” (Genesis Rabbah 39:3).
Unity and Shalom,
Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen (See below)
Related Teachings:
1. According to the halacha stated above, we are to be aware of the Shechinah when we pray. The following teaching from the Zohar, a classical text of Kabbalah, refers to the motherly role of the Shechinah:
It is written, “Draw me, we will run after You” (Song of Songs 1:4), and it is written, “I will place My Sanctuary among You” (Leviticus 26:11). Come and see: The Holy One, Blessed be He, placed His Shechinah among Israel so that She will hover over them like a mother over her children, and to protect them from all sides. (Zohar, The Song of Songs, 217)
The above teaching is cited in the Hebrew encyclopedia of Torah thought, “Aspaclaria,” which was compiled by Rabbi Shmuel Avraham Adler.
2. Just as a mother hovers over the bed of a sick child, so too, the Shechinah hovers over the bed of a sick person. As the Talmud teaches in the name of Rav: From where do we know that the Shechinah rests on the top of the bed of a sick person? As it says (Psalm 41:4): “Hashem will support him on the sickbed.” (Nedarim 40a)
3. Just as a child learns to trust his loving mother, so too, we human beings are to trust in Hashem. This metaphor is found in the following prayer of King David: “I swear that I calmed and quieted my soul like a suckling child on its mother, like a suckling child is my soul.” (Psalm 131:2)
“Like a suckling child is my soul” - My soul within me was before You as an infant suckling its mother’s breasts. (Rashi)
4. In the messianic age, Hashem will give us motherly comfort, and this idea is expressed in the following Divine promise to our people:
“For thus said Hashem…Like a person whose mother comforts him, so will I comfort you, and in Jerusalem you will be comforted.” (Isaiah 66:12,13)