CupsOfSilver

Originally Written: March 2017

Female figures within the Western religions of Judaism and Christianity are commonly subjected to few interpretations and roles that define their character and influence how women are seen within that religious context. Images of holy women such as the Virgin Mary are held up as idealized forms of womanhood; being chaste, a mother and a devoted wife are the primary goals for women of Christian and Jewish traditions. There have also been representatives of what or who women should not be like within these two religions. Both discuss the notion of the unsubmissive, promiscuous, empowered female as a sinister force that has the capabilities to thwart men’s progress toward heaven and ruin society as a whole. Figures in scripture that fit this destructive female archetype are sometimes referred to as demonesses, witches, the whore of Babylon, or even Lilith. However, through the influences of feminism and reinterpretations of scripture, women in more modern times have been able to observe or reinterpret different role models beyond the chaste wife figurehead or the demoness.

Focussing primarily on the character of Lilith and how she has come to be interpreted throughout time, one first must have a basic understanding of her origin story. The Jewish folklore surrounding Lilith begins in Genesis 1, 27, where the scripture states, “male and female, He [god] created them.” As Howard Schwartz discusses in his article “Jewish Tales of the Supernatural,” rabbis interpreted this passage to mean that men and women were created simultaneously. Yet, in later Genesis passages, the woman, Eve, is created from the rib of man, Adam. The rabbis facing a contradiction within the scripture came to the understanding that the first passage refers to Adam’s first wife, whom they named Lilith, and the second creation of woman refers to Eve. This interpretation started an ongoing lore about Adam’s mysterious first wife. Ironically the name of Lilith only appears once in the bible in Isaiah 34:14, where it states, “Yea, Lilith shall repose there.” Academics and theologians alike have come to believe that that phrase was likely in reference to a Babylonian night demon. As Schwartz points out, few post-biblical texts reference Lilith. There is a notion of Lilith in the Talmud. A similar description is found in “The Testament of Solomon”; however, the earliest written documentation of the legend is found in “The Alphabet of Ben Sira.” The legend extrapolates the rabbis’ original Lilith by stating that Lilith disobeyed Adam and God through endless arguing. Since Lilith would not be subordinate to Adam, she flew out of the Garden of Eden to the shore of the Red Sea, where she made a home in a cave. Lilith took demons as lovers and became their queen by giving birth to more demons and ruling over them. From there on, Lilith developed numerous new interpretations and, in a sense, became the “boogeyman” hiding under the bed waiting to attack. The legend of Lilith became its own living story passed on from rabbis to parents to generation to generation, each interpreting the story differently and adding another layer to the mysterious character that is Lilith. This essay will focus primarily on the numerous interpretations of the figure of Lilith. While traditionally in Judaism, Lilith is seen as a demon temptress or murderer, nowadays, the figure of Lilith has moved away from the concept of an evil being into a feminist icon to Jewish women. Thus, this essay will explore the three main layers of Lilith’s interpretation through various Jewish perspectives and how her image has changed over time from disobedient wife, to demon and seductress, to feminist icon.

The legend of Lilith, the queen of demons and the seductress, has traditionally been the primary story surrounding her character. However, as Jay Jacoby notes in “Lilith in Jewish Literature,” Lilith has been described in numerous ways. In the more popular descriptions, she was either a wind demon or a night demon who took the shape of an owl. While the English poet Rossetti, in his poem “Eden Bower,” portrayed Lilith as a serpent, this depiction of Lilith played into the notion of her being a seductress who, in some renditions of the legend, was the serpent in the Garden of Eden, who tricked Eve into eating the forbidden fruit. Some theologians say she was a woman of great beauty with nothing but flames below her waist. Others have described Lilith as “an incredibly seductive woman whose beauty is marred only by the fact that her feet are great claws, like those of a giant bird of prey” (Jacoby pg. 80). Jacoby points out the other ways in which Lilith is described in relation to her being a demon.

“She is, for example, represented as the wife of Satan (Samael); a howling night-demon; the Queen of Sheba, half-human and half demon; a beautiful but deadly succubus who attacked men sleeping alone; a jealous witch who destroys infants and pregnant women; the Muse; a symbol of “swift and unequivocal resistance to tyranny and the fortitude to face the consequences” (125)

The consistent evolution of Lilith from a disobedient wife wreaking havoc on Adam’s offspring into a terror-inducing demon has been used to push the idea of submission to authority and submission to one’s husband and other dominant male figures. This is seen through the original depiction of her legend and the reasoning behind Lilith’s flee from the Garden of Eden and Adam. Jacoby elaborates on this notion by stating, “The vilification of Lilith, and by extension, of any woman who refused to submit to male domination, represented an effort to discredit attempts to undermine the patriarchal Jewish tradition… In that tradition, men were to be the…decision-makers; women were to do whatever needed to be done to enable men to…make decisions.” (Jacoby pg. 80). Thus, through the scapegoating of her manifested identity, Lilith has come to take the form of a nightmare for men and women alike. At the most basic level, Lilith became an outlet upon for which people who believed in her legend could project the blame for a plethora of issues such as infant mortality, infertility, pre- and post-partum neuroses, children’s inability to sleep through the night, women’s jealousy, male erotic fantasies, and male fears of emasculation. Yet, how she is described at the theological level (since God is infallible in his decisions), God must have had to design the creation and pairing of Lilith and Adam to fail so as to provide a negative example for the more positive pairing of Adam and Eve. Thus, in this interpretation, Lilith joins the ranks of Cain and others as an archetypal scapegoat figure of what or who to never align oneself with.

The distinguishing characteristic of Lilith as a seductress has emerged through the notion that as a part of her revenge on Adam and God, Lilith vowed to not only attack Adam’s offspring but also to seduce men who were easy prey. The description of Lilith being a vengeful, scorned woman is also seen through her defiance to atone for her sins as she instead was described to have flown to the Red Sea, where she took demons as lovers and became an embodiment of lust. As Schwartz mentions, “there are two primary aspects of the Lilith legend as the incarnation of lust, Lilith leads unsuspecting men into sin, in her incarnation as a child-destroying witch, she strangles helpless infants” (344). Interestingly though, the tales of Lilith as a child murderer and a jezebel do not overlap. In the tellings of Lilith folklore, she is represented as either one or the other, never both temptress and baby killer. As Lilith’s legend evolved, the folklore and stories surrounding her character also grew. There is a story set in the city of Worms, Schwartz notes, where the “Queen of Sheba” comes to a poor innkeeper’s storeroom and seduces the man with her charm and beauty and large bags of silver coins. In several other stories, Lilith is known to have snuck into single men’s beds in order to attempt to seduce them and render them unable to produce children. She has also been personified as the root cause of men’s erotic dreams and suppressed desires. According to Jacoby, some philologists believe that the English word “lullaby” is a corrupt rendition of the Yiddish adjuration, “Lilla—abi,” which translates into “Lilith — Begone!” The infant-destroying Lilith was and is also the source of many superstitions relating to childbirth and childrearing. One such legend tells the tale that if a sleeping child should be heard laughing at night, it is a sign that Lilith has been playing with him or her. In those cases, parents are advised by their rabbis to tap their infant’s nose three times or have their child wear an amulet to drive Lilith away and frighten her with harsh words. Yet, one can see that the splitting from Lilith’s original legend into these fanciful tales was for the purpose of entertainment and the reintroduction and continuation of universal fears and fantasies. Schwartz sums up this point completely by stating that “Lilith is, after all, the projection of the negative fears and desires of the rabbis who created her. If Lilith served no other purpose than to resolve the contradiction in the biblical text, such an extensive legend, with so many ramifications, would never have come into being” (345).

Throughout the reinterpretations of Lilith, historically, female authors of her folklore have either not had their stories last through time or have not been able to significantly change the character of Lilith. That is, up until more recent times, feminist authors have taken the story of Lilith and have transformed her from the traditional demon, child-murdering temptress into a relatable female character used towards empowerment away from the patriarchy. Judith Plaskow and Donna Berman, in “The Coming of Lilith,” took the myth of Lilith and recreated it through the lens of a feminist theology where instead of Lilith being a demon and monster, she is instead presented as a woman misinterpreted who later forms a type of sisterhood with Eve. The following is an excerpt from Plaskow and Berman’s myth.

“In the beginning, the Lord God formed Adam and Lilith…Created from the same source, both having been formed from the ground, they were equal in all ways. Adam, being a man, didn’t like this situation, and he looked for ways to change it…But Lilith wasn’t one to take any nonsense; she picked herself up, uttered God’s holy name, and flew away. “Well now, Lord,” complained Adam, “that uppity woman you sent me has gone and deserted me.” The Lord, inclined to be sympathetic, sent his messengers after Lilith, telling her to shape up and return to Adam or face dire punishment. She, however, preferring anything to living with Adam, decided to stay where she was. And so God, after more careful consideration this time, caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam and out of one of his ribs created for him a second companion, Eve. For a time, Eve and Adam had a good thing going. Adam was happy now, and Eve, though she occasionally sensed capacities within herself that remained undeveloped, was basically satisfied with the role of Adam’s wife and helper… Meanwhile Lilith, all alone, attempted from time to time to rejoin the human community in the garden. After her first fruitless attempt to breach its walls, Adam worked hard to build them stronger, even getting Eve to help him. He told her fearsome stories of the demon Lilith who threatens women in childbirth and steals children from their cradles in the middle of the night. The second time Lilith came, she stormed the garden’s main gate, and a great battle ensued between her and Adam in which she was finally defeated. This time, however, before Lilith got away, Eve got a glimpse of her and saw she was a woman like herself. After this encounter, seeds of curiosity and doubt began to grow in Eve’s mind. Was Lilith indeed just another woman? Adam had said she was a demon. Another woman! The very idea attracted Eve. She had never seen another creature like herself before. And how beautiful and strong Lilith looked! How bravely she had fought! Slowly, slowly, Eve began to think about the limits of her own life within the garden. One day, after many months of strange and disturbing thoughts, Eve, wandering around the edge of the garden, noticed a young apple tree she and Adam had planted, and saw that one of its branches stretched over the garden wall. Spontaneously, she tried to climb it, and struggling to the top, swung herself over the wall. She did not wander long on the other side before she met the one she had come to find, for Lilith was waiting. At first sight of her, Eve remembered the tales of Adam and was frightened, but Lilith understood and greeted her kindly. “Who are you?” they asked each other, “What is your story?” And they sat and spoke together of the past and then of the future. They talked for many hours, not once, but many times. They taught each other many things, and told each other stories, and laughed together, and cried, over and over, till the bond of sisterhood grew between them…Eve and Lilith returned to the garden, bursting with possibilities, ready to rebuild it together” (pg 31-32).

In this recreation of the Lilith myth, individuals can see how a feminist perspective changes the ways in which the original character is seen. In this interpretation, Lilith is no longer a demon, seductress, or monster; instead, she is a woman of self-thought and willing to stand up for herself against the men that run her life. Here the figure of Lilith is used to promote a form of sisterhood between women rather than frighten them into obeying their husbands and fathers. By changing the myth of Lilith, Plaskow and Berman alter the ways in which women who voice their independent power and self-autonomy are seen. These types of women are no longer grouped in with the sins of demons and child killers; instead, through this recreation, independent women can be seen as leaders and sisters to those who do not understand the full force of the patriarchy.

Thus, as the cultural context of the retelling of the legend of Lilith has changed, so has Lilith’s entire story and character. Initially, the figure of Lilith was an unnamed contradiction within the bible that rabbis quickly sought to explain away. Over time and through the continual advancement of the Lilith legend, she quickly developed a persona filled with vengeance, lust, and essentially evil doings on par with the devil himself. Eventually, the figure of Lilith even acquired several demonizing titles such as “Queen of Sheba,” wife of satan, succubus, child-destroyer, and several others. The legend has also changed to suit the receiving crowd within that retelling. While originally Lilith started as an unnamed first wife of Adam who, through the projection of a religious group’s shared fear of sexuality and female dominance and the continuous passing on of folklore from generation to generation, Lilith has now come to symbolize many facets of a group or individual’s personal beliefs. For Judeo-Christian feminists and some Wiccan or new age religion followers, Lilith has become a symbol of women breaking free from the maltreatment of an abusive husband and a patriarchal society; for others, Lilith has also come to be an icon of endurance through adversity. To some Jewish and Christian groups, she remains the demon temptress; to others, Lilith represents a break free from the constraints of patriarchal religious oppression. However, as the different groups with stories and lore that associate with the infamous Lilith change, so does the character of Lilith change. As the culture of the religious group advances, so do the characters, symbols, and stories of the group change in similar ways. Folklore and legends are not static. Thus characters such as Lilith develop new traits and purposes within the society they serve. As Jacoby states, “one can study the kinds of literary heroes that grip the popular imagination…it is critical to keep in mind that culture heroes (or villains) never remain constant; they change according to the needs of the societies that create them…The conditions of the time determine which symbols are invented; the symbols help to explain the conditions of the time” (81).

Bibliography:

• Plaskow, Judith, and Donna Berman. “The Coming of Lilith: Essays On Feminism, Judaism, and Sexual Ethics”, 1972-2003. Boston: Beacon Press, 2005.
• Dame, Enid, Lilly Rivlin, and Henny Wenkart. Which Lilith?: Feminist Writers Re-create the World’s First Woman. Northvale, N.J.: Jason Aronson, 1998.
• Gaines, Janet Howe. “Lilith: Seductress, Heroine or Murderer?.” BR (Washington, D.C.), vol.17, no. 5, Oct. 2001, p. 12.
• Jacoby, Jay. “Lilith in Jewish Literature.” Judaica Librarianship, vol. 3, no. 1-2, 1986.
• Schwartz, Howard. “Jewish Tales of the Supernatural.” Judaism, vol. 36, no. 3, 1987, pp. 339-351.