Tag: Bilhah Zilpah Project

Bilhah Zilpah Project – Vayigash

Posted on by jocsantuary in Bilhah Zilpah Project, Event

After not being referenced to at all during the previous Parasha Miketz, Bilhah and Zilpah are drawn into the final parasha of their story moment only at the end literal recounting of the children they have produced. The Torah references wealth explicitly through the acquisition of cattle and slaves, and mentions of silver, but the currency that is never explicitly named are children.

Together, Bilhah and Zilpah birth one third of the Twelve Tribes namesakes. Beyond that as a focal stopping point, this inventory highlights that Bilhah and Zilpah left legacies that remain largely as invisible as they are. Zilpah and Bilhah would have been remembered by their children and grandchildren. Surely too, by great-grandchildren whose names have been severed from the record. Similar to the ways we say kaddish for those who have none, the Bilhah Zilpah Project dreams of remembering their names… not only for Bilhah and Zilpah, but also for ourselves.

Beyond the main narrative of Yaakov, Rachel, Lavan, and Leah, this foundational story of the Jewish people tells the stories within stories of Dinah and Yoseph. Growing up, leaving home in search of ourselves, and returning… if that is possible. Maybe going home is not about being back to be back, but to see and understand where we have gone, so we may continue. Bilhah and Zilpah’s story within the story is a crucial lens through which to see and understand our past, present, and future in order to better know ourselves, where we have been and where we are going.

Reflection Questions

• What makes a Jewish matriarch?

• How can we honor and celebrate Bilhah and Zilpah?

• What home do you need to leave in order to find yourself, or how does returning home help illuminate where you are going?

• Are children still our unnamed currency?

• Do we value women for more than just their ability to create life?

• How will you continue to listen for the silenced wisdom of Bilhah and Zilpah and other named and unnamed women of Torah?

Thank you for making this inaugural Bilhah Zilpah Homecoming such a sweet and memorable series. Your openness, heart, and wisdom helps to connect the ancient stories of Torah to the modern stories of our lives today, with a special invitation to reflect on the voices and experiences of the biblical characters we see as non-player-characters and their modern invisible counterparts. It’s an epic journey and it’s delightful to be accompanied. As we were all there at Sinai, so too Bilhah and Zilpah are connected back to us.

This is the last weekly email of Bilhah Zilpah season, but fear not… emails will switch to monthly for those who registered. Meanwhile, if you joined us along the way, check out the Vayeshev, Vayishlakh, Vayeitzei, and Miketz reflections… and keep listening for their voices. You can learn more about my journey with them in Bilhah and Zilpah Made Me Yearn For Torah published in the Jewish Women’s Archive.

May the light we kindle during the winter holiday season help us to draw near the wisdom of biblical women like Bilhah and Zilpah and see the Bilhah & Zilpah’s of today!

Bilha Zilpah Project – Miketz

Posted on by jocsantuary in Bilhah Zilpah Project
from Wikipedia on The Bible and Slavery

In Miketz, named for the end of the two years Yosef has languished in prison, Pharoah’s Cupbearer finally remembers his promise and tells of Yosef’s ability to interpret dreams. Yosef’s insight led Pharoah to organize during the years of plenty to avoid devastation during the years of famine. This is how Yosef came to be in charge of Pharoah’s court at the age of 33. Pharoah renames Yosef, Zaphnat Paneakh, and gives his daughter Poti-fera as his wife.

Yaakov learns of food rations to be had in Egypt and sends ten of Yosef’s brothers to see about getting food to survive, choosing to hold back Benyamin for his safety. Yosef recognizes his brothers, but not they he. Yosef accuses them of being spies in order to see Benyamin. Yosef returns all the brothers, except for Shimon as collateral, with bags of grain and their payment returned, until they bring Benyamin.

Yaakov doubles down on lamenting consideration of sending Benyamin, now believing to have lost two sons, Yosef and Shimon. Reuven swears to Yaakov that he will protect Benyamin at the expense of Reuven’s two sons. Yehuda also says to send Benyamin with him, referring this time to Yaakov as Yisrael, vowing to be culpable for sin against his father for all days if Benyamin doesn’t return, referencing the time that has passed since they were asked to bring Benyamin. Yaakov resigns himself to more grief and finally allows Benyamin to be taken for more rations, now acknowledging Benyamin as having brothers.

Yosef sees his brothers coming with Benyamin and orders a feast be prepared. The brothers are directed into the house of Yosef and fear that the payment returned before was an omen they are to be enslaved through an interesting line that reads:

וְלָקַ֧חַת אֹתָ֛נוּ לַעֲבָדִ֖ים וְאֶת־חֲמֹרֵֽינוּ

his sign to be seized as slaves and with our donkeys

The brother’s speak to Yosef’s house man, return the coin, and explain what happened, to which they are told not to worry. Shimon reappears. The brothers wash their feet and prepare to eat with Yosef who now sees his brother Benyamin for the first time since being sold into slavery. Yosef goes off to cry by himself and returns. The Egyptians eat separately from the Hebrews…

וְלַמִּצְרִ֞ים הָאֹכְלִ֤ים אִתּוֹ֙ לְבַדָּ֔ם כִּי֩ לֹ֨א יוּכְל֜וּן הַמִּצְרִ֗ים לֶאֱכֹ֤ל אֶת־הָֽעִבְרִים֙ לֶ֔חֶם כִּי־תוֹעֵבָ֥ה הִ֖וא לְמִצְרָֽיִם

And to the Egyptians ate together apart because they could not endure the Egyptians to eat bread with the Hebrews because it was disgusting to them the Egyptians

The brothers feast, and get drunk. Yosef’s goblet filled with silver is slipped into Benyamin’s sack at Yosef’s command when the brothers receive rations and depart to return to their father. Yosef sends men after the brothers and accuses them of stealing to which they say, hey, we returned the money we found in our packs from last time, why would we steal from you… if you find something, kills the one who has it and enslave the rest of us! Yosef changes the deal to the one with whom it is found shall become my servant but the rest of you shall be absolved. The brothers show their packs and the goblet is found with Benyamin. All the brothers return to Egypt and the house of Yosef. Yehuda prostrates himself and Yosef asks if they did not know he could divine. Yehuda begs and Yosef insists that Benyamin will stay and the brothers may return in peace to their father.

Previous Bilhah Zilpah Project emails opened with a drash on how to read the title of the parashat with them in mind. The idea of the end of imprisonment brings to mind if there is an end to enslavement for Bilhah and Zilpah. There were end periods to some enslavement under some circumstances and ways to end enslavement in other conditions. Do you have other creative drashes to bring in Bilhah and Zilpah? We’d love to read them!

Our main musing in this Bilhah Zilpah pesuk-less parasha is that the Torah says Bilha’s children were supposed to be attributed to Rachel, Yosef  and Benyamin’s mother, who herself is also deceased… and the favored wife. If Dan and Naphtali belonged to Rachel, then Yosef still had brothers. For nuances like these, in addition to the fact that the Torah always notes Bilhah and Zilpah as the mother of their children, suggests that they were not only recognized as birth-mother, but also retained their status as parent. Does this moment feel bittersweet, given their status as wives and parents, in hearing confirmation that Yaakov values his children differently? If the wife/child ordering when meeting Esav had not already confirmed their understanding of who was not counted, who was worth sacrificing.

Reflection Questions

• How does Yaakov’s lamenting sending “his son” because his brother is dead affect Bilpah?

• How can we explore the status shifting that Bilhah and Zilpah experience, their naming by others, in relationship to the renaming of Yaakov to Israel (twice) by God and the renaming of Yoseph to Zaphnat Paneakh by Pharoah?

• What do you make of the brother’s lamenting of their feared enslavement along with their donkeys?

• Why do you think Shimon was the brother held back in Egypt? Do you think this was Yosef’s choice, the brothers, or custom?

• At the end, how long were Bilhah and Zilpah enslaved? Can you create midrash that brings Bilhah and Zilpah into the title of this parasha? We’d love to read them!

Our homecoming continues with or third and final event in this series: Bilhah & Zilpah Drew Near: Listening for Torah Women’s Wisdom on Sunday December 17 at 9-11amPT / 12-2pmET / 7-9pmIT.

The last weekly email during Bilhah Zilpah season will also go out on December 17, but fear not… emails will switch to monthly for those who registered for those emails. Meanwhile, if you missed them, check out the Vayeshev, Vayishlakh, and Vayeitzei reflections…

Happy third day of Chanukah. May the light we kindle help us to see the Bilhah & Zilpah’s of today!

Bilhah Zilpah Project – Vayeshev

Posted on by jocsantuary in Bilhah Zilpah Project, Event

One of the unique qualities in the source sheets for the Bilhah Zilpah Project is that they only include the Torah lines that reference Bilhah, Zilpah, or their children. As characters that have always been there, but whom often have to be introduced when brought into Torah study, this choice was an attempt to keep the focus on Bilhah and Zilpah.

Next Shabbat, we read Vayeshev, which contains a single line invoking Bilhah and Zilpah. Breishit 37:2 finishes the long accounting of the descendants of Yaakov that ends Vayishlakh. The line returns Bilhah and Zilpah to the status of wives.

The parasha is named for the opening line he dwelled. Bilhah and Zilpah dwelled as well. We learn that Yosef is seventeen. This can help us guess minimum ages for Bilhah and Zilpah. By now, these women have now dwelled through multiple stags of their lives and enslavement to reside as concubine matriarchs of one third of the twelve tribe namesakes.

The feud between Rachel and Leah lives on through Yaakov’s children even after Rachel’s death. Yosef is identified as being the favored son (of the favored wife). However, the line also suggests that Yosef worked alongside Bilhah and Zilpah’s children in specific tasks of tending the sheep. The negative reports could be of all of the brothers, but why mention Bilhah and Zilpah if not to indicate that the report defames Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher? The children were named after all, not for hopes of their futures, but for how Rachel and Leah hoped their births would affect their relationship with Yaakov, even the children of Bilhah and Zilpah.

Despite the Torah laying out the intention that Bilhah and Zilpah’s children would belong to Rachel and Leah, Bilhah and Zilpah appear to have retained their status as mother. However, this line invites consideration for if their children were seen differently and for the legacy of how these children were named.

Reflection Questions:

• What do you notice in the begetting accounting, especially relative to Bilhah and Zilpah?

• How have the status of Bilhah and Zilpah changed over time?

• What clues do we have about the relationships Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher had with their brothers?

Our homecoming continues with: Bilhah Zilpah Dreaming: Creative Play for Reclamation on Sunday December 3. You can also join us for the third and final event in this series: Bilhah & Zilpah Drew Near: Listening for Torah Women’s Wisdom on Sunday December 17.

Meanwhile, look out for our next Bilhah Zilpah Project email on Sunday December 10. And, if you missed it, check out the Vayishlakh and Vayeitzei reflections…

We see you Bilhah & Zilpah!

Bilhah Zilpah Project – vayishlakh

Posted on by jocsantuary in Bilhah Zilpah Project, Event

Parashat Vayishlakh is named for the opening Hebrew indicating that Yaakov sent messengers with gifts to help ease the reunion with his brother Esav with whom he is unsure how he will be received. There is so much focus on the different types of cattle that it can be easy to miss that a male and female slave were included in the goods sent. By now, we are accustomed to cattle and slaves being an indication of wealth. I find myself wondering how customary it may have been to give slaves in this manner? After all, Bilhah and Zilpah were given as gifts by Lavan to his daughters. Why not between brothers? Would this have been different in a context that was not among close relatives? What was it like for the two enslaved people who were sent to Esav? Did they have family that remained with Yaakov? How did Bilhah and Zilpah and other enslaved people feel at seeing this exchange?

Like Vayeitzei’s going out was also significant for Bilhah and Zilpah, Vayishlakh can be read in their eyes too. In his lingering unease, Yaakov splits his camp and sends Bilhah, Zilpah, and their children out front. With Leah and her children in the middle, and Rachel and her child last. The Hebrew is not the same shoresh for send, using instead שׂוּם (shoom) to put. However, it is very much a choice that, in the event of Yaakov’s worst fear happening when he hears that Esav is heading toward him with 400 men, would send Bilhah, Zilpah, and their children to face a potentially tragic fate that would give Rachel and her child more chance to avoid, especially with the added buffer of Leah and her children.

This choice happens immediately after Yaakov has focused on his family, even if framed as his belongings, and wrestles with God. This line has inspired kashrut and much focus given its coinciding with the name God gives Yaakov, never mind that we rarely use it. I think there is room to see the wrestling as that of a father and a husband who is afraid, who does have different relationships with his wives… and his children because of their different relationships with those wives, and makes a revealing choice.

We know that Esav is delighted to see his brother Yaakov. Despite the warmth of this reunion, Yaakov chooses not to stay with his brother, but go off on his own. This brings us to the story of Dinah which can also be very interesting through the eyes of Bilhah and Zilpah. Seeing Dinah’s body being controlled by Shechem, and her fate determined by her brothers. Hearing of the dowry promised for Dinah, having received no dowry themselves. Potentially, serving as the dowry of Rachel and Leah. Whatever Bilhah and Zilpah’s relationship may have been with Dinah, I wonder how these moments were experienced by them? There is an invitation to consider how these three women may have supported each other through the absence of their voices during fates.

Reflection Questions:

• How do you read Yaakov’s choice to put Bilhah and Zilpah out front when the family meets Esav?

• How does putting Bilhah and Zilpah “out front” play out in modern situations?

• In what ways do we use different categorizations of people/community to create “buffers” between situations we are unsure of or perhaps even actively avoiding?

• We like to think of enslavement as structurally different than that of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade… what differences are there… what similarities?

• Where do you see possibilities for female solidarity that merit deeper reflection?

I hope you will join our continuing connection with Bilhah and Zilpah in our next event honoring their homecoming: Bilhah Zilpah Dreaming: Creative Play for Reclamation on Sunday December 3. We have some interactive embodiment play planned. You can still register for this event!

You can also join us for the third and final event in this series: Bilhah & Zilpah Drew Near: Listening for Torah Women’s Wisdom on Sunday December 17. We would love to study with you!

Meanwhile, look out for our next Bilhah Zilpah Project email on Sunday December 3. And, if you missed it, check out the Vayeitzei reflections…

We see you Bilhah & Zilpah!

Bilhah Zilpah Project – Vayeitzei

Posted on by jocsantuary in Bilhah Zilpah Project, Event

Parashat Vayeitzei is named after it’s opening word וַיֵּצֵ֥א (Vayeitzei) He went out…

Toldot, the parashat before Vayeitzei, read this past Shabbat ends with Yaakov fleeing his brother Esav and his home to go live in Padan Aram with his uncle Lavan and instructions to find a wife.

Vayeitzei opens where the previous section ended, with Yaakov went out from Be’er Sheva toward Harran, the city in Padan Aram where Lavan lives. In this parasha, which we will read next Shabbat, Yaakov meets and falls in love with Rachel and ends up married to both Rachel and her sister Leah. We meet Zilpah and Bilhah on each sister’s wedding night.

Vayeitzei is the where the main lines which reference Bilhah and Zilpah reside, in Breishit 30:3-30:13. Amidst children being named as commodities for attention in the war waged between Rachel and Leah. Bilhah and Zilpah find ways to navigate their shifting status between slave, concubine, and wife.

We are more than our circumstances. Bilhah and Zilpah were more than enslaved people, used as a sexual commodity. Bilhah and Zilpah were multidimensional women who found ways to navigate the realities of their lives. They were women who existed within relationships and left legacies. Bilhah and Zilpah went out into the world—at least encountering the world between Padan Aram and Hakhanim in their traveling, dwelling, and working.

Bilhah and Zilpah’s experiences align with many modern women in not having autonomy over their bodies, being named and categorized by others, having their voices silenced, and feeling invisible in plain sight. They can be a lens through which to explore slavery, human hierarchies, belonging, disenfranchisement, and fucked-up family dynamics in Torah and the ways these topics continue to echo throughout history up to the present.

Choosing to read Bilhah and Zilpah with power and autonomy helps me do that for myself in my own life—still living within a racialized world, yes, but able to find ways to navigate institutionalized systems of racialized oppression with moments of power and autonomy that allow me to make choices—or at least the best choices at my disposal today, to live the best life I can while also trying to seed greater choice for those who come after me. 

How do you see the story…?

Reflection Questions:

• What was it like to be used to bear children intended for others?

• What ways were Bilhah and Zilpah’s life different and similar to Rachel and Leah?

• Are Bilhah and Zilpah seen as the parents of Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher?

• How did the children feel in this situation?

• Bilhah and Zilpah and the children born through them are commodities in this story… yet, is there a way to read Bilhah and Zilpah with autonomy?

If you are joining us for Bilhah & Zilpah Enter: A Homecoming Celebration on Sunday November 19, you’ll hear more of the story as we welcome Bilhah and Zilpah enter the Torah through their first references. You can still register for this event until an hour before start time. You can also join us for the second and third events in this series: Bilhah Zilpah Dreaming: Creative Play for Reclamation on Sunday December 3 and Bilhah & Zilpah Drew Near: Listening for Torah Women’s Wisdom on Sunday December 17. We would love to study with you!

Meanwhile, look out for our next Bilhah Zilpah Project – Vayishlakh post on Sunday November 26.

Welcome Home Bilhah & Zilpah!

Bilhah & Zilpah Enter the Tent

Posted on by jocsantuary in Event

Join Jews of Color Sanctuary at this open Homecoming event welcoming Bilhah & Zilpah as they enter the Torah in Parashat Vayeitzei.

Come to hear what has been going on with the Bilhah Zilpah Project over the last year, learn some Bilhah Zilpah wisdom for our modern lives, and leave with a new relationship to these matriarchs. This time, let’s read the story through their eyes…

Register for the independent events in this series:

Bilhah & Zilpah Enter: A Homecoming Celebration Sunday, November 19 at 9-11 a.m. PST / 12-2 p.m. EST / 6-8 p.m. IST
Bilhah Zilpah Dreaming: Creative Play for Reclamation Sunday, December 3 at 9-11 a.m. PST / 12-2 p.m. EST / 6-8 p.m. IST
Bilhah & Zilpah Drew Near: Listening for Torah Women’s Wisdom Sunday, December 17 at 9-11 a.m. PST / 12-2 p.m. EST / 6-8 p.m. IST