Lilith - dæmon eller gudinde?

Abstract

Lilith - Demon or Goddess?

The main focus of this article is how three contemporary feminist, Jewish theologians reconstruct the Lilith myth and how these reconstructions reflect the authors’ feminist and theological perspectives and identities.

Christina K. Emiliussen (MA in history of religion) presents three theologians: Judith Plaskow, Savina Teubal and Haviva Ner-David, and their religious and ideological backgrounds. Also, the figure of Lilith and her story in early and modern Judaism is described. The theologians’ reconstructions are opposed to the Lilith myth from the medieval Jewish Midrash, The Alphabet of Ben Sira, along with other earlier versions. While Lilith has previously embodied a negative image of a troublesome and dangerous woman or demon, she is now turned into a feminist symbol and a positive image of an independent no-nonsense woman.

The article concludes that the reconstructed Lilith myths function as tools for the feminist, Jewish theologians, reflecting their feminist identities while kept inside a Jewish context. The goals of these theologians are feminist reforms of Judaism, allowing it to embrace these women as both Jews and feminists, and the reconstructed myths function as means to that end while still being religious.