Minute Paper 10/1 The Amateur Experts

Today we discussed historical gender roles and rabbinic speculation on various aspects of Genesis 1-3. It is important to look at ancient writings through a historical lens; female inferiority was both a scientific and religion based argument, with limited language to define male and female qualities. These notions are reflected in the readings, and we discussed the meaning of various symbols (such as the rib)– the rib may have been used to suggest modesty as the ideal feminine quality. It also calls into question whether or not God’s formation of Eve is theft. The speculations also linked Eve to Pandora, and both Adam and Eve to Plato’s Symposium (mankind as originally androgynous).