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God is always referred to as “He”. I realize this is people’s way of referring to the masculine such as in the saying “mankind”. However, is there any discussion of God’s female properties in any text? Or some indication of God as “Mother” instead of “Father”?
Indeed, the Torah does always use the masculine form to describe God but it is also true that this might not be an absolute statement of His gender as much as a stylistic device – or perhaps more likely – a more subtle indication of some aspect of our experience with Him. The closest thing I can think of to a feminine-like aspect would be the word “Shechina” – Divine Presence (which takes the feminine gender in Hebrew). This word doesn’t in any way describe God himself, but the effect of His manifest proximity.
With my best regards,
Rabbi Boruch Clinton
It’s a start. Shehina is the feminine indwelling aspect of God. One cool thing that I just learned is that the Hebrew for mother (AIM-”Eema” is an Aramaic word) is actually intertwined with the Hebrew word for “faith” EMUNAH. What this means is that the bedrock of our “faith” our trust that the world has meaning and beauty lies in our relationship with the feminine/maternal God.
I’m not sure what direct ontological connection “Emunah” has with God. It is certainly true that the Torah associates a person’s Emunah with his mother (see Proverbs 1: 8 on which some commentators note an Emunah connection) – that a mother’s influence is hugely important in establishing a healthy relationship with God. But that’s not the same thing as positing a “feminine/maternal God”
Comment by ATR — August 23, 2007 @ 1:45 pm