Commemorating the Nameless Wives of the Bible: Midrashic Poems by Contemporary American-Jewish Women

Anat Koplowitz-Breier

doi:10.3390/rel11070365

Abstract

A proper name individualizes a person, the lack of it making him or her less noticeable. This insight is apt in regard to the nameless women in the Hebrew Bible, a resolutely androcentric work. As Judaism traditionally barred women from studying, many Jewish feminists have sought access to the Jewish canon. Much of American-Jewish women’s poetry can thus be viewed as belonging to the midrashic-poetry tradition, attempting to vivify the biblical women by “revisioning” the Bible. This article examines two nameless wives who, although barely noted in the biblical text, play a significant role in their husbands’ stories—Mrs. Noah and Mrs. Job. Although numerous exegetes have noted them across history, few have delved into their emotions and characters. Exploration of the way in which contemporary Jewish-American poets treat these women and connect them to their own world(s) is thus of great interest to both modern and biblical scholars. Herein I focus on five poets: Elaine Rose Glickman (“Parashat Noach”), Barbara D. Holender (“Noah’s Wife,” and “Job’s Wife”), Oriana Ivy (“Mrs. Noah,” and “Job’s Wife”), Shirley Kaufman (“Job’s Wife”), and Sherri Waas Shunfenthal (“Noah’s Wife Speaks,” “The Animals are our Friends,” “Time,” and “Arc of Peace”).

Highlights

A proper name individualizes a person, the lack of it making him or her less noticeable
Has adduced four roles proper names play in the Hebrew Bible: (a) they carry meaning in and of themselves; (b) they serve as a peg on which the other traits and features of the character may be hung, unifying disparate pieces of information under one rubric; (c) they consolidate characters identifying the traits out of which they are constructed, functioning as a convenient way of referring to specific characters; (d) they distinguishes one character from another
The poem is structured as rhymed couplets that emphasize the biblical couples that enter the ark on the one hand—“They came to Noah into the ark, two each of all flesh in which there was breath of life.” (Gen 7:15)—and Noah and his wife on the other, who stand at the core of the poem as two separate people. Perhaps it is precisely this fact—their difference, expressed in his practicality and her sensitivity—that makes them suitable to be the regenerators of humanity. As part of her desire to “fill the space” of the place women hold in Genesis, Holender seeks to explain their absence from the story

Summary

Noah’s Wife

Noah’s wife only gets the barest mention in the biblical story. When God tells Noah to build the ark, he says: “and you shall enter the ark, with your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives.” As part of her desire to “fill the space” of the place women hold in Genesis, Holender seeks to explain their absence from the story In this poem, she contrasts practical Noah—a man who knows his role is to restart the world—with his sensitive but impractical poet wife. While God tells Noah “to come into light,” he only starts the process by removing the ark’s cover His wife and sons take care of the practical aspects—“coax[ing]/each set of animals to descend/into sunlight.”. We are reminded that, while Noah returns to his origins, these represent a new reality This narration of the story of the flood from Noah’s wife’s perspective transforms the ark experience into a ’delivery.’. I have combined the Cosmopolitan Review’s version of the poem with the strophes and line division of a later version of the poem sent to me by the author (Ivy 2019b. e-mail communication to the author. 4 July 2019)

Job’s Wife

Conclusions