Rabbi Charles P. Sherman
October 4, 2002
Adam's First Wife?
Friends, this Shabbat we begin studying Genesis once more. It is probably my very favorite biblical book. Tonight I would like to introduce us to one of the most contradictory characters in Jewish lore. Some have called her a demon-ness, others a goddess. Twentieth century feminists have resurrected her as the first woman on earth, equal to man and a free spirit. Twenty-seven years ago, a new "Independent Jewish Women's Magazine" was born; its name, "Lilith." Dr. Frazier Crane's ex-wife is Lilith. But I get ahead of myself.
As you know, there are two different creation accounts of human life. In Genesis 1 (#1 on handout --printed here at the end of the Sermon), male and female seem to be created simultaneously. (Read) In Genesis 2 (#2), Adam is created first; Eve is created from Adam.
This discrepancy has always been a challenge to Bible scholars, and there are many suggestions on how to reconcile these differences. Some say that they represent two separate creation stories, one from the Priestly literary school - the "P" school - and the other from the "J" or Jahwist literary school, and eventually they were edited together.
Rashi the great 12th century Bible commentator quotes the Talmud and Midrash to explain that the first human being was created with two faces, or perhaps two body fronts, and that God sawed them in two so that two bodies resulted - one for the male and one for the female. In other words, the first person was a hermaphrodite - bisexual.
Rabbi Plaut in our Torah: A Modern Commentary, suggests that Chapter 1 may be seen as the ideal and Chapter 2 as the actual state of creation. Thus the derivative origin of woman in Chapter 2 reflected her prevailing social condition while, ideally, as told in Chapter 1, men and women were created equal.
Now we can accept any of these explanations, but tonight I want to teach you another explanation for the discrepancy in our biblical texts. Perhaps there was a problem with the first creation of man and woman. Who was to blame? Well, why not the first wife? And so the rabbis spin a web of stories about Adam's first wife, displacing upon her their own fears, inadequacies and confusions. Since I do not want to confuse you, let me tell you the conclusion first. There were two different figures - Lilith and Eve I. At first, separate; later, combined into Eve I, Adam's first mate.
Let's start with Lilith. You see the quotation (#3) from Isaiah 34 - that is the only mention of Lilith in our entire Bible. You recall it was the Assyrians who overran the northen kingdom of Israel in 721 BCE; and so there was undoubtedly influence of Assyrian culture in ancient Israel. It is quite possible that the character Lilith comes out of Assyrian demonology because there are these other characters (#4) - Lilitu, Lamashtu, Lilu and Ardat Lilu - who, among other things, are portrayed as attacking men and babies, haunting houses and lacking a bed of her own. There also could have been a connection between Lilith and the earlier Sumerian Lil, meaning wind. Some writers associated Lilith with the Hebrew word layil (night) and therefore understood her as a night demon. It is fair to say that the most ancient Lilith was located in the Tigris-Euphrates area.
Later talmudic citations further developed the Assyrian themes and introduced new aspects. For example, the talmudic Lilith mothered demons, and the literature on Lilith multiples from there. She is depicted as harlot, vampire, beauty. She is perceived as being responsible for miscarriages and for any complications during pregnancy and, as a result, spawned an industry of protective amulets. She is a powerful, though dangerous, being. In the mystical literature, such as the Zohar, she can even go so far as to ascend to the throne of God. She is terrifying, particularly to men and to newborn children - boys until their bris and girls until the age of 20 days. In fact, traditions develop to guard against her. For example, the Watchnight in Germany took place the night before a circumcision. It was an all-night vigil to stave off Lilith's anticipated arrival. As traditions about Lilith developed, her original independent character was submerged into her demonic nature. Lilith became a name to fear, a personality to overcome.
The first Eve does not have any of these demonic, dangerous qualities. She simply did not please Adam for one reason or another and, therefore, disappears and God creates another Eve.
The first available version of the creation story which associates the name Lilith with the first Eve is the Alphabet of Ben Sirach, a work probably written sometime between 600 and 1000 CE. This account merges two separate and distinct traditions - the Lilith of the Talmud and the first Eve of the Midrash and the legends. Let's look at the story in the Alphabet of Ben Sirach. (Read #9)
As this character develops further in Jewish mystical literature, the text frequently used Lilith to insure adherence to laws of family purity. Lilith, who suffered banishment and punishment by God for her disobedience in not returning to Adam, ironically became the instrument of punishment for human marital sexual transgressions. She attacked because of some impure act on the part of humans such as engaging in intercourse at an improper time (for example, when the male had not been to the mikvah) or with a forbidden person. According to the Zohar, children born of intercourse by the light of candles would be epileptic - they would be pursued and killed by Lilith. Her previously vengeful attacks on humans, as depicted in the Alphabet of Ben Sirach, became in the literature of the Zohar threats and strategies for policing transgressions against the laws of family purity.
So what happened? How did we get from this shadowy, demonic, very complex character to a heroine of Jewish feminism. The project began in the 1970's when feminist historians and theologians brought this night demon out into the light. Aviva Cantor analyzed the literature about Lilith as a response by Jewish men to the powerlessness of exile. Lilith herself became a metaphor of the exile - robbing Jews of their future, their survival, their strength. She was also a message to Jewish women in a time of difficulty, the opposite of Eve and especially Esther. As Cantor wrote: "Eve is the enabler, Lilith the disabler. Eve the 'Mother of all life'; Lilith a 'destroyer of life.' In creating the Lilith shadow role, men were telling a woman that if she is independent, assertive, free - as Lilith was - she will end up a frigid, nymphomaniac, childless witch." In a time of exile particularly, women were to be enablers and helpmates - they were not to rock the boat.
So with Lilith what happened is that Jewish women resurrected her power and her independence, while shaking off some of the demons. After all, had Adam agreed to equality in the first place, all the fuss would never have occurred.
The Alphabet's view of Lilith as the first woman appealed to Jewish women looking for vibrant female role models and searching for new forms of religious and communal expression. So the small journal Off Our Backs created a logo that modified the story of Lilith as told in the Alphabet of Ben Sirach. In this contemporary modification, Adam and Lilith quarreled over their sexual positions and consequently over their gender roles. It's appeal to feminists is obvious.
"Lilith said: 'I will not lie below you'.
And Adam said: 'And I will not lie below you, but rather above you, for you are fit to be below me and I above you.'
She responded: 'We are both equal because we both come from the earth.'
Neither listened to the other."
Lilith was chosen as the title for The Magazine of Jewish Women's Consciousness. "Lilith's Rib" editor, Maralee Gordon, explained the title of her newsletter in the following way: "I think she is an important symbol and that she counteracts the image of women being created as an afterthought, as a helpmate for man and, indeed, out of the flesh of man - opposite the reality of man emerging out of the flesh of women. I thought about calling the newsletter Lilith's Womb, which may in fact be a better name for it."
Judith Plaskow explicated and elaborated the impulses and motives of such references to Lilith by Jewish women through her retelling of the Lilith story, cleverly titled "Applesource." In this contemporary Midrash, Plaskow stressed man's responsibility for the subjugation of woman through his banishment of her to the home. Plaskow's revision related contemporary woman's struggle with a God defined in masculine images. And she also built an archetypal story of "Sisterhood" through the narrative of Eve escaping from the Garden of Eden to find Lilith. This new version united the biblical Eve with Lilith, rather than ignoring Eve. In so doing, Plaskow implied that both are perhaps aspects of the ideal whole and, finally, her myth expressed the fears of men, or those imagined fears, when women join together.
Applesource by Judith Plaskow: In the beginning, the Lord God formed Adam and Lilith from the dust of the ground and breathed into their nostrils the breath of life. Created from the same source, both having been formed from the ground, they were equal in all ways. Adam, being a man, didn't like this situation, and he looked for ways to change it. He said, "I"ll have my figs now, Lilith," ordering her to wait on him, and he tried to leave her the daily tasks of life in the garden. But Lilith wasn't one to take any nonsense; she picked herself up, uttered God's holy name, and flew away. "Well, now, Lord," complained Adam, that uppity woman you sent me has gone and deserted me." The Lord, inclined to be sympathetic, sent His messengers after Lilith, telling her to shape up and return to Adam or face dire punishment. She, however, preferring anything to living with Adam, decided to stay where she was. And so God, after more careful consideration this time, caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam and out of one of his ribs created for him a second companion, Eve.
For a time, Eve and Adam had a good thing going. Adam was happy now, and Eve, though she occasionally sensed capacities within herself that remained undeveloped, was basically satisfied with the role of Adam's wife and helper. The only thing that really disturbed her was the excluding closeness of the relationship between Adam and God. Adam and God just seemed to have more in common, both being men, and Adam came to identify with God more and more. After a while, that made God a bit uncomfortable too, and He started going over in His mind whether He may not have made a mistake letting Adam talk Him into banishing Lilith and creating Eve, seeing the power that gave Adam.
Meanwhile Lilith, all alone, attempted from time to time to rejoin the human community in the garden. After her first fruitless attempt to breach its walls, Adam worked hard to build them stronger, even getting Eve to help him. He told her fearsome stories of the demon Lilith who threatens women in childbirth and steals children from their cradles in the middle of the night. The second time Lilith came, she stormed the garden's main gate, and a great battle ensued between her and Adam in which she was finally defeated. This time, however, before Lilith got away, Eve got a glimpse of her and saw she was a woman like herself.
After this encounter, seeds of curiosity and doubt began to grow in Eve's mind. Was Lilith indeed just another woman? Adam had said she was a demon. Another woman! The very idea attracted Eve. She had never seen another creature like herself before. And how beautiful and strong Lilith looked! How bravely she had fought! Slowly, slowly, Eve began to think about the limits of her own life within the garden.
One day, after many months of strange and disturbing thoughts, Eve, wandering around the edge of the garden, noticed a young apple tree she and Adam had planted, and saw that one of its branches stretched over the garden wall. Spontaneously, she tired to climb it, and struggling to the top, swung herself over the wall.
She did not wander long on the other side before she met the one she had come to find, for Lilith was waiting. At first sight of her, Eve remembered the tales of Adam and was frightened, but Lilith understood and greeted her kindly. "Who are you?" they asked each other, "What is your story? And they sat and spoke together, of the past and then of the future. They talked for many hours, not once, but many times. They taught each other many things, and told each other stories, and laughed together, and cried, over and over, till the bond of sisterhood grew between them.
Meanwhile, back in the garden, Adam was puzzled by Eve's comings and goings, and disturbed by what he sensed to be her new attitude toward him. He talked to God about it, and God, having His own problems with Adam and a somewhat broader perspective, was able to help out a little - but He was confused, too. Something had failed to go according to plan. As in the days of Abraham, He needed counsel from His children. "I am who I am," thought God, "But I must become who I will become."
And God and Adam were expectant and afraid the day Eve and Lilith returned to the garden, bursting with possibilities, ready to rebuild it together."
One more modern, Jewish feminist Midrash, this one by Bonnie Feinman:
God created Adam and Lilith. Adam said to Lilith, "God created me first, therefore I have power and authority and strength; I am better than you." Lilith said to Adam, "God created me second. Through me He corrected His mistakes and created a more perfect being: more pleasing to the eye, sensitive to the world, and courageous enough to stand alone if I must."
Adam spent his days proving his superiority. He climbed the highest trees and found the most succulent fruit. And always he would return to Lilith and say, "You see, I am superior." And Lilith spent her days befriending the animals and exploring her new environment, experiencing the joy of each new encounter. At first Lilith would return to Adam and, with excitement, share her day's taste of life with him. "What you are doing is a waste of time," said Adam. "I, on the other hand, climbed the highest tree and looked out over all the world. I am better than you."
Soon Lilith kept quiet and did not share her day's taste of life with Adam. Lilith and Adam began to argue over silly things.
One day Adam said to Lilith, "You do not respect my authority; you must leave this place." One day Lilith said to Adam, "You criticize everything I say and do unless it is about you. I need to find a place where I am right. I must leave this place."
Adam became afraid, for he had spoken in anger and he did not wish to be alone. Lilith felt strong and waved goodbye to Adam, calling to him, "I will find my own tree to climb."
Adam pleaded with God, "Do not leave me alone, but do not burden me with another Lilith. You promised me a perfect world. Create a woman who will be dependent on me, a woman who will recognize my importance."
And God created Eve.
For a number of years, I have been sharing with you modern Jewish women's Midrashim. I believe they yield important new insights into many biblical characters thanks to being able to see them now through women's eyes, characters I find much more exemplary than Lilith. And yet, having said that, for thousands of years some part of the Jewish imagination needed Lilith's boldness, directness, aggressiveness and spirit. Perhaps it still does.
I've learned from the writings of Rabbi Mindy A. Portnoy, Rabbi Deborah R. Prinz and Judy Weinberg. I also recommend Taking the Fruit: Modern Women's Tales of the Bible (Jane Sprague Jones, ed.) and Biblical Women in the Midrash: A Sourcebook (Naomi Mara Hyman).
Lilith Sources
1. And God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. They shall rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the cattle, the whole earth, and all the creeping things that creep on earth." And God created man in His image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (Genesis 1:26-27)
2. The Lord God formed man from the dust of the earth. He blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and man become a living being. The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and placed there the man whom He had formed. (Genesis 2:7-8)
The Lord God said: "It is not good for man to be alone; I will make a fitting helper for him" . . . So the Lord God cast a deep sleep upon the man; and, while he slept, He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that spot. The Lord God fashioned the rib that He had taken from the man into a woman; and He brought her to the man. Then the man said, "This one at last / Is bone of my bones / And flesh of my flesh. / This one shall be called Woman, / For from man was she taken." (Genesis 2:18-23)
3. Wildcats shall meet hyenas,
Goat-demons shall greet each other;
There too the lilith shall repose
And find herself a resting place. (Isaiah 34:14)
4. Assyrian demonology:
Lilitu, Lamashtu, Lilu, Ardat Lilu
Attacked men and babies; haunted houses; lacked a bed of her own
5. Hebrew derivation:
Layil - night; therefore a night demon or a night monster
6. Talmud - Four references, which show no connection with Adam.
A wild-haired and winged creature with nymphomaniac tendencies. The mother of demons. Rabbi Hanina forbids men to sleep alone in a house at night lest they fall prey to her.
7. First Eve: Midrash, Genesis Rabbah, discusses a First Eve but does not mention Lilith. According to Rabbi Aibu, she "returned to dust."
Judah, son of Rabbi Hiya, states that in the beginning God created Eve for Adam; but, when Adam saw her being made with sinews and blood, he grew disgusted and became alienated from her. Thereupon, God caused this first Eve to return to nothingness and proceeded to create a second Eve for Adam.
8. The divine resolution to bestow a companion on Adam met the wishes of man, who had been overcome by a feeling of isolation when the animals came to him in pairs to be named. To banish his loneliness, Lilith was first given to Adam as his wife. Like him, she had been created out of the dust of the ground. But she remained with him only a short time, because she insisted upon enjoying full equality with her husband.
She derived her rights from their identical origin. With the help of the Ineffable Name, which she pronounced, Lilith flew away from Adam, and vanished in the air. Adam complained before God that the wife He had given him had deserted him, and God sent forth three angels to capture her. They found her in the Red Sea, and they sought to make her go back with the threat that, unless she went, she would lose a hundred of her demon children daily by death. But Lilith preferred this punishment to living with Adam. She takes her revenge by injuring babes - baby boys during the first night of their life, while baby girls are exposed to her wicked designs until they are twenty days old. The only way to ward off the evil is to attach an amulet bearing the names of her three angel captors to the children, for such had been the agreement between them. (Ginsberg, Legends of the Jews, Vol. I, pp.65-66)
9. The son of King Nebuchadnezar was taken suddenly ill. The king thereupon said to Sirach, "Heal my son, for if thou does not cure him, I will kill thee." Sirach wrote out an amulet in perfect purity, and wrote therein the names and forms of the angels appointed over the cure (Snoi, Snsnoi, Smnglf) with their hands and their feet. When the King saw that amulet, he asked, "Who are these?" Sirach replied, "These are the angels who are appointed over the cure of man and their names are Snoi, Snsnoi, Smnglf." (This is their story.)
When God created Adam, He said it is not good for man to be alone, and He created an helpmate for him, also from the earth, and called her Lilith. No sooner was she created than she commenced quarreling with Adam and saying, "I am just as good as you as we have both been created from the earth." When Lilith saw that she could not overcome Adam, she uttered the ineffable name of God and flew up in the air . . . Adam stood up in prayer and said, "O Lord of the Universe, the wife which thou hast given me has run away from me." Whereupon, the Lord sent these three angels after her to bring her back and they said unto her, "The Lord has decreed that if thou art willing to return, it be well with thee, but if not, thou must take upon thyself as punishment that each day 100 of thy children should die." But she refused to return. So they said unto her, "We must drown thee in these waters."
But she begged of the three angels, "Leave me, for I have been created for the purpose of weakening (destroying) little babes, if it be a boy, eight days from the day of his birth, and if it be a girl, that I should have power over her up to twenty days." When they heard her words, they urged more strongly upon her to obey, and she then said, "I swear unto you by the name of the living and great God, that whenever I shall see either you or your names or your images on an amulet I will not hurt that child."
(Alphabet of Ben Sirach)
10. Kabbalah: Lilith is a competitor to "the female affixed to his side." "In the beginning when the Holy One, blessed be He, created the first Eve, He did not create her out of flesh but rather out of the filth of the earth and sediment." Adam, however, was made only from the earth.
Numerous portrayals of Lilith as a demon, one of four demon queens. (Naamah, Machlah, and Agrat). Zohar sometimes identifies Naamah as "the mother of demons" while Lilith only functions as their governess. "The offspring all go to the ancient Lilith who brings them up. She goes out into the world and seeks her little ones, and when she sees little children, she cleaves to them in order to kill them and insinuate herself into their spirits." The implication is that Lilith has no children of her own.
Conclusion:
Lilith's character is a maze of contradictions, interweaving a variety of legends and traditions. Stripped of the overlay of medieval mysticism and demonology, Lilith emerges as an independent spirit. Had she succeeded in her battle with Adam for equal rights, Lilith might today represent that spark of original creativity in whose image women could retrace and recreate their history.
