In ancient israel, the term "mother in israel" is a title. Deborah the prophetess calls herself "mother in israel", and in the book of Samuel, the city of Avel is also called "mother in israel". Given the name, both the city and the prophetess are recognized as sustainers and protectors of the people.
The Asherah-pillar, and later the tree-shaped Menorah in the Temple, were also symbols of the creative and nourishing power of the Mother ... One of the biblical names for God is El Shaddai, which can be translated to mean, "God of breasts". God/dess as nursing mother would have been a well-known image in ancient Israel ...
"Mother" continues to be a term of respect in Jewish culture. In ancient Rome, in the third century CE, a Jewish woman named Beturia Paulina received the title mater synagogue, mother of the synagogue, from two separate communities ...
The Mother as Nazirite
YHWH spoke to Moses saying: Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: A man or a woman when he explicitly utters a nazirite vow, to set himself apart for YHWH, he shall abstain from wine and any other intoxicant ... Throughout the therm of his vow as nazirite no razor shall touch his head .. Until the period of his dedication to the LORD is over, he shall be sacred, and shall let the hair of his head grow freely. Throughout the term that he is consecrated to YHWH he shall not go near a dead person ...
- Numbers 6:1- 6
In the Bible, a nazir or nezirah means "a consecrated person". Such an person abstanined from intoxicants and grew their hair long, and stayed away from the dead as priests do. At the end of period being a nazirite, special offerings were brought, including the cut hair of the consecrated individual. In a sense, becoming a nazirite was a kind of personal priesthood .. Woman as well as men could be nazirites ...
The Talmud and Josephus report aristocratic women becoming nazirites, including the Jewish king Agrippa's s sister Berenice and Helena, queen of Adiabene. A rabbinic text mentions the girl's name Nazirah as a sign of a daughter being dedicated this way. In fact, most of the specific individuals mentioned as nazirites inn the Talmudic era are women:
Helene the Queen (of Adiabene) - her son went off to war, and she said: " If my son comes whole and in one piece, I shall be a nezirah for seven year.s. Indeed her son did come home from war, and she was a nezirah for seven years.
- Mishnah Nazir 3:6
Zitat aus Rabbi Dr. Jill Hammer. The Hebrew Priestess. Ancient and New Visions of Jewish Women's Spiritual Leadership, Chapter 8, Mother- Priestesses
In der Lernumgebung des Zug der Zeit auf den Boards "Shamans - Rites" und "Tradition, Heimat und Moderne im Judentum" (Update: Leider Ärger! Historisch gesehen nicht neu! Boards Pinterest momentan deaktiviert!)
Veröffentlicht am Abend des 25. Januar 2024
