Which Lilith? - by Enid Dame & Lilly Rivlin & Henny Wenkart (Hardcover)

About the Book

Jewish lore indicates that Eve was not Adam's first wife. Mentioned in the Talmud and elaborated on in the Midrash and Kabbalistic writings, Lilith is said to be Adam's first partner. While the figure of Lilith may be as old as Jewish culture itself, until recently her stories were told primarily by men and their depiction of Lilith was consistent: she was a witch, a temptress, a dangerous, evil woman. This anthology offers a vivid, provocative, and enlightening sampling of Jewish women's responses to the Lilith myth.

Book Synopsis

Eve was not Adam's first wife. That honor belongs to Lilith, who was created as Adam's equal. When he tried to dominate her, she uttered God's secret name and flew away. Lilith is mentioned in the Talmud, elaborated on in the midrash and in the kabbalah, whispered about in stories, and passed down from mother to daughter. In this anthology, a vivid, provocative, and enlightening sampling of Jewish women's written responses to the Lilith myth are offered. The editors have provided the space for contemporary women to link themselves to a tradition and participate in a sacred activity, thereby infusing energy into Lilith and creating a new tradition.

Review Quotes

A must-read for students of feminism, Jewish scripture, women's literature, and anyone restless for a walk on the psyche's wild side.

Fascinating, original, and highly recommended for Judaic studies and women's studies supplemental reading lists.

Indispensable...provacative essays.

Judaism has a long tradition of reinterpreting its central texts and newer traditions of women seeking their own path. Which Lileth? adds a modern and uniquely female voice to the ancient texts and legends.

Recommended for women's and Jewish studies collections.

The editors of this anthology, Dame, Rivlin, and Wenkart, have selected works that are wide-ranging, visionary as well as revisionist, both fierce and lyrical at the same time. Lilith circles above the pages of the volume, flies to the sea, to the desert, and invites us on this wild ride.

This is an amazing and wondrous work, quite equal to the task of resurrecting Lilith-one of the great female foremother archetypes, a universal vibration, and role model, if you will, one that has been buried, denied, scorned, misread, feared, by women as well as men, to our own detriment. The pieces are original, complex, very creative, poetic, filled with yearning and bravery. An deeply informative. This is a book I didn't know I needed, but now that it's here, I know she has come at the right time and in the right form. Bravo to editors Dame, Rivlin, and Wenkart. No Jewish or Women's Studies program should be without it. A must-read for theologians, ritualists, mental health professionals, Middle East experts, and, of course, for people of good will.

This work proves that conjoining Lileth with feminist consciousness has opened a pwoerful chapter in the quest for re-imaging contemporary Jewish women's lives.

About the Author

Enid Dame is a poet, writer, and lecturer at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Lilly Rivlin, a seventh-generation Jerusalemite, is a writer and film-maker specializing in Jewish and international subjects.

Henny Wenkart is the editor of the Jewish Women's Literary Annual.