I’ve dealt with enduring domestic abuse in my life with a lot of religions examined. I come from a family that left the Orthodox in the 1900’s and never would consider Reform Judaism over Theosophical Atheism founding pioneer Mormons who became New Agers, studied under a San Franciscan Rabbi who stressed Elohisms I later studied in depth on a Christian Science/Burning Man commune as I did work for the Democratic and Republican parties in Arlington Texas and connected with the more feminist end of Mormon Relief Society roots. In my early 20’s, despite my upbringing as an open Ashkenazi CryptoJew in the American Branch of Soren Kierkegaard’s state church he took issue with which now has a deeply feminist and anti racist charter, I married a Landmarker Baptist when I was accustomed to NeoQuakerCharismatic worship styles that worked at Messianic Outreach.

My ex, also a CryptoJew of the Sephardic tradition who grew up in a still segregated Landmarker Baptist tradition had a much different spin on Kabbalah and Sotah and Sanhedrin than I ever encountered. Especially for a CHRISTIAN. I later found out in Masonic study these things are very Prince Hall Mason for a lot of Black Baptists of this tradition. My recent studies with other women of Augustinian/Constantinian Christianity (Catholic and Protestant) and Restorationist Christianity (Stress Elohistic worship) note the following: If Deborah Judged, Miriam Sang and Jael killed Cisera before Babylonian Exile and the rules changed dramatically after it, perhaps men worshipping all the Ba’alim in all of the Ziggurats was a huge issue. There is also noting that Leviticus institutionalized rape in conquest where Egyptian laws forbid it and allow women to be property owners rather than coding them as tradeable chattel. I think Judiaism has a lot to recommend it in ritual purity states and dietary law (if you are going to be a meat eater). But it’s important to realize that reform away from laws that institutionalize rape pervade all religions that stem from Judaism as a root, including active American law — which often does not have the structures in place to prosecute (Israeli law currently has clear sentencing for and prosecutes rapes except those still institutionalized in child rapes and trafficking rings. It’s complicated. But it’s all worth noting as a theological question. In the Americas 19th century Masonic Elohisms won many rights for women Theosophist secularist ones could not.

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.

Plain text

  • No HTML tags allowed.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.

Donate

Help us elevate the voices of Jewish women.

donate now

Get JWA in your inbox

Read the latest from JWA from your inbox.

sign up now