The fact that the first human was created as an androgynous being gives us much insight into male-female relationships.
To get a clear picture of the Jewish view of womanhood, we must go back to the beginningâthe Torah.
In the first chapter of Genesis, the Torah chooses to refer to Adam in the plural:
God created the man in His image; in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them. And God blessed them. (Genesis 1:27-28)
Why âthemâ? This was before the creation of Eve!
The Jewish Oral Tradition provides us with a fascinating insight into this grammatical oddity. The first human, it tells us, was really an androgynous being, both male and female in one body, sophisticated and self-sufficient.
But if God had created such a complete human being, why the later separation into two parts, into Adam and Eve?
The answer given is that God did not want this first human creation to be alone, for it would then possess an illusion of self-sufficiency. Note that there is no word for âindependenceâ in classical Hebrew. (What we use now, atzmaâut, is of modern vintage.) The concept of independence doesnât exist in Jewish tradition. Aside from God, nothing and no one is really independent. Since we are supposed to ingrain into ourselves that God is the source of everything, self-sufficiency would have been a spiritual defeat.
God wanted to fashion the human being into two separate people in order to create a healthy situation of dependence, yearning, and mutual giving. Human beings are not meant to be alone because then they would have no one to give to, no one to grow with, and nothing to strive for. To actualize oneself spiritually, a human being cannot be alone.
WHY NOT IDENTICAL TWINS?
But why, then, didnât God create two identical beings? The answer is that in order to maximize giving, the recipient must be different from the giver. If the two are identical, giving can occur, but it is limited. One would give based on his or her own needs, since the receiver would have the exact same needs. To truly be a giver, the person must take into account what the receiver needs and not only what the giver wants. By giving to someone with different needs, a person is trained to think and give on terms other than his or her own.
We see, then, that the separation had to be into two different beings, in order for us to learn to appreciate, love, give, and care for those unlike ourselves.
This is fundamental to all moral and spiritual growth. We can also understand why God didnât just create two beings from the start: by starting as one, we can know and feel that our life partners are our true complement, that we need them and their differences just as they need us and ours.
GENDER DIFFERENCES
The Torah is a path to self-actualization, to spiritual growth. We have seen that in order to grow, a person cannot be alone. Therefore two beings were created. To maximize growth, the beings need to be different, and so men and women were created as different beings. But what are these differences?
In the creation story told in the Book of Genesis, the way in which God separates man and woman provides us with an insightful look at gender differences. We will briefly discuss here some of the most powerful of these. Note that the feminine-masculine polarities we will discuss do not apply exactly the same way to each man and womanâwe were all created as unique individuals. However, what the Torah describes does exist for everyone to some degree.
Interestingly enough, Adam was not split down the middle; rather, Eve was created from an internal organ: his rib. By mentioning the rib, the Torah is teaching us a principle in understanding the nature of masculine and feminine strengths, namely that feminine manifestation and strength is more internal, while the masculine focus and expression is more external.
The feminine internal nature can be observed in the enormous weight women place on relationships, which by definition are personal and private. Modern psychology confirms this key distinction. The best-selling book, âMen Are from Mars, Women Are from Venusâ by Dr. John Gray, advances the idea that women are more ârelationship-basedâ than men.
This emphasis on the internal has many practical implications. While most of Judaism applies equally to men and women, including the central ideas of celebrating Shabbat and keeping kosher, not all commandments apply in the same way. The Torahâs system of spiritual achievement and happiness applies differently to the two genders.
For example, women, who are more internalâand in a sense privateâwill usually find their direct connection to God most efficiently through private prayer. Therefore Judaism encourages them to express this through regular daily private prayer, although of course they can pray in a synagogue if they prefer. Men are more external (we see evidence of this in the world at large also, in that men are more drawn to be part of a group or team.) This is part of the masculine spiritual makeup and explains why manâs spiritual path is more related to public prayer.
INNER REASONING
The Torah also describes the process of Eveâs creation using the word vayiven, âGod built.â This word shares the same Hebrew root as binah, meaning âinsightâ or understanding. This suggests, as it says in the Talmud, that women were created with an extra dose of wisdom and understanding.
Binah is much greater than âwomenâs intuitionââit means the ability to enter something and understand it from the insideâwhat has been called âinner reasoning.â
Men tend to have more of what is called daâat, an understanding which comes from the outside, a type of understanding which tends to be more connected to facts and figures.
Society loses an enormous asset when only one of these intellectual aspects is valued. Just as two eyes make our view of things more accurate, seeing things from the two different male and female perspectives makes our understanding of life more complete.
Note that modern science supports Judaismâs age-old contention that men and womenâs minds work differently.
A case in point is research by Ralph Holloway and Christine de Lacoste-Utamsing, Jeanette McGlone, and Doreen Kimura. (See M. Kaufmanâs âFeminism and Judaismâ for a comprehensive summary.) This research has proven beyond a doubt that men and womenâs brains are physically quite different. Not surprisingly, social scientists are looking more and more to physiology as the source of different behaviors and ways of thinking, as well as a determining factor in areas of interest and excellence.
EQUAL BUT DIFFERENT
Gender is a pivotal quality in each personâs identity. Men and women are fully equal but differentâand that difference is good. With their own unique talents and natures they can give to one another and help each other along the road of life.
God, in His infinite wisdom, created humans as two distinct genders in order to enable them to complement and fulfill each other. Each gender should appreciate and use its special strengths. Since the genders are different, it would be counterproductive to force them to conduct themselves identicallyâwhat helps a man wonât necessarily help a woman and vice versa.
King Solomonâs beautiful poem Eishes Chayil, âA Woman of Valor,â describes all the different roles a woman can play, including teacher, businesswoman, mother, wifeâbut all of them as a woman.
When a person is asked what she does, she often responds by naming her career. But the truth is that we are not merely doctors, engineers, secretaries, educators. We are human beings trying to fulfill our unique potential.
By giving her the tools to grow morally and spiritually while maximizing her unique strengths, the Torah frees a woman to be herself with self-esteem and joyâand no apologies.