As a Jewitch, I am keenly aware of the pervasive cult of Lilith. Many modern women view her as a force of spiritual feminism, defying the ever present patriarchy of Abrahamic religions through her demands of sexual equality. For many Jewish women (as well as pagans), Lilith is viewed as a goddess–the original Jewitch, from whom all defiant women claim the inherent right of rebellion against a society constantly enforcing the submissive modesty of the feminine or elevating their sexual commodification. Given the promotion of Lilith as a sort of Jewish superheroine, I find myself in an odd position to declare that I am not on “Team Lilith.”
As a Jewitch, there are several reasons why I am not a Lilith fan, most of them originating from studying the Hebrew texts relating to Lilith, as well as from examining the historical context of those texts. I hold that the Torah is a superior magical text compared to the text from which the Lilith myth evolved (the Alphabet of Ben Sirach (ABS)). I am not scandalized that there was a woman or women before Eve, because I have read Genesis, and it plainly states this in the first two chapters. Also, Judaism does not suffer the “original sin” guilt trip as heavily as Christianity, and is not truly anti-women in the Torah (the only real mention of original sin outside of Genesis is once in Psalms 51, while Christianity brings the notion front and center whenever convenient). When you remove these elements, it is more challenging to raise the sense of righteous indignation that would make you want to jump on the Lilith bandwagon.
I would like to begin, appropriately, with Genesis (Bereshit), looking at the claim that Lilith was, in fact, Adam’s first wife.
Though the text is commonly translated as “man” then Hebrew word is אָדָם (adam), which really mean “earthling” or “creature made of earth.” It is not a proper name-it is referring to a type of being, which אֱלֹהִים (Elohim) made both male and female. So, at the beginning, we are told that the Divine created either a human that is both masculine and feminine qualities, created a man and a woman, or created male and female humans. Whatever the case may be, we know that Eve was not among the first, constituting a second act of creation later in the story.
Going on to Genesis 2, יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים breathes life into הָאָדָם (adam), again human, placing the human (or humans) in Eden.
Bringing this back to Lilith, based on the interpretations, 1) the first adam was male and female, so debate of Lilith being a separate entity is not relevant, 2) in the event that the Divine created only one male and female, that female may have been Lilith, or 3) Lilith is one among several females the Divine created, as Adam is one among several males. Obviously, Lilith advocates favor the second argument, so let’s explore that more closely.
The only comparable mention in the Hebrew Bible that may be referring to Lilith is Isaiah 34:14,
| יד וּפָגְשׁוּ צִיִּים אֶת-אִיִּים, וְשָׂעִיר עַל-רֵעֵהוּ יִקְרָא; אַךְ-שָׁם הִרְגִּיעָה לִּילִית, וּמָצְאָה לָהּ מָנוֹחַ. | 14 And the wild-cats shall meet with the jackals, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; yea, the night-monster shall repose there, and shall find her a place of rest. |
… לִּילִית being “Lilit,” the night-monster, who is not described in any way as being human, at all. We know this class of being was written of in non-Hebrew ancient Middle Eastern text, being a class of wind demon that could be either male or female (this also is the perspective of Lilit in the Talmud, thought there is a distinct sexual nature to the demon). In fact, there is no early text stating that Lilith was human, which is a mark against the “Lilith as Adam’s first wife” perspective (which is not to say that he did not have sex with her, just that she would not have been they would have been the first human pairing).
As Lilith, being this first female, is not explicitly stated in Genesis, nor is she human, how have we come to this designation as Lilith being Adam’s first wife? This theme develops in the 9th to 10th century in the Alphabet of Ben Sirach,
“When God created the first man Adam alone, God said, “It is not good for man to be alone.” [So] God created a woman for him, from the earth like him, and called her Lilith. They [Adam and Lilith] promptly began to argue with each other: She said, “I will not lie below,” and he said, “I will not lie below, but above, since you are fit for being below and I for being above.” She said to him, “The two of us are equal, since we are both from the earth.” And they would not listen to each other. Since Lilith saw [how it was], she uttered God’s ineffable name and flew away into the air. Adam stood in prayer before his Maker and said, “Master of the Universe, the woman you gave me fled from me!” (Alphabet of Ben Sira 78: Lilith).
The above passage from the Alphabet of Ben Sirach (ABS) is the cornerstone for the modern Lilith mythology. It may be several centuries removed from the Hebrew Bible, but hey, that is perfectly acceptable in the case of oral traditions, right? Perhaps, but let’s take a closer look at this work. The Jewish Virtual Library Encyclopedia Judaica describes the Alphabet of Ben Sirach as, “a narrative, satirical work, written probably in the geonic period in the East. The Alphabet of Ben Sirach is one of the earliest, most complicated, and most sophisticated Hebrew stories written in the Middle Ages.” Hmmmm, a “satirical work”? Are women really basing their divine feminine spirituality on Medieval Jewish version of The Onion? Of course, much truth can be related through satire, but we should demonstrate some degree of intellectual discernment when trying to extract that truth, as oppose to believing every word at face value.
For the sake of argument, in defense of the Lilith-ites,” let us continue the debate by claiming that by calling the ABS a satirical work, the Jewish Virtual Library Encyclopedia Judaica is just identifying itself as part of the Jewish patriarchy, and the story really is legitimate. Let’s move on to the contents of the work.
So, we are told in ABS that the Divine created Adam and Lilith (who is human in this story). Unlike Genesis I and II, Lilith is a subsequent creation, as opposed to the feminine being built into the original human creation in both Genesis stories (though Eve was created later as Human 2.0). We read that Adam and Lilith are arguing over sex positions,
“She said, I will not lie below,” and he said, “I will not lie below, but above, since you are fit for being below and I for being above.” She said to him, “The two of us are equal, since we are both from the earth.”
Without thinking too deeply about this, from a feminist point of view, Lilith sounds pretty awesome. However, if we do take a moment to think about this more deeply, Lilith also sounds pretty awesome from a male point of view… and that should raise a few flags. We must stop and ask ourselves, what exactly are the regulations regarding sexuality in Judaism? Were ancient Jews really only restricted to the missionary position?
The answer is no, not really. According to Yosef Ahituv in Encyclopedia of the Jewish Women’s Archive,
“Significantly, the praise for maximal avoidance of pleasure while engaging in the sexual act is reserved solely for the husband, and not the wife. She is permitted, and entitled, to demand that her husband engage in relations with her while she is completely nude, and to fully experience physical pleasure. No known source praises women for abstention or limiting their sexual enjoyment.” (Modesty and Sexuality in Halakhic Literature)
… continuing…
And also when he is with her, he should not think of his pleasure, but rather as a person who is repaying the debt that he owes, as regards her conjugal relations, and to fulfill the commandment of his Creator (Arba Turim, Orah Hayyim 240).
Interestingly, pleasure during sex is considered a privilege to women in Judaism, though not necessarily for men. Men are charged with reproducing offspring, and whether or not that should be a matter of pleasure is debated.
From a Jewish feminist, let alone a Jewitch perspective, the ABS story upon which the mythology of Lilith is based makes no real sense, as it does not fit within the context of Jewish sexuality (satirical, indeed). But, let’s just continue our trend, and ignore this line of logic as we have every other argument, since we really want Lilith to be a hero.
Continuing from ABS, in a fit of rage, Lilth employs the name of the Divine to gain the power to flee to the cliffs by the sea. I suppose we will not stop to wonder how Lilith, if human, has knowledge of the names of the Divine and how to use them, while Adam does not…
“The Holy Blessed one immediately dispatched the three angels Sanoy, Sansenoy, and Samangelof after her, to bring her back. God said, “If she wants to return, well and good. And if not, she must accept that a hundred of her children will die every day…
[Wow, the text is telling us Lilith is a human and has given birth to hundreds to thousands of children? With whom, Adam or other males?]
The angels pursued her and overtook her in the sea, in raging waters, (the same waters in which the Egyptians would one day drown), and told her God’s orders. And yet she did not want to return. They told her they would drown her in the sea, and she replied. “Leave me alone! I was only created in order to sicken babies: if they are boys, from birth to day eight I will have power over them; if they are girls, from birth to day twenty.” When they heard her reply, they pleaded with her to come back. She swore to them in the name of the living God that whenever she would see them or their names or their images on an amulet, she would not overpower that baby, and she accepted that a hundred of her children would die every day. Therefore, a hundred of the demons die every day, and therefore, we write the names [of the three angels] on amulets of young children. When Lilith sees them, she remembers her oath and the child is [protected and] healed.” (Alphabet of Ben Sira 78: Lilith)
Certainly, if Lilith is human and truly wronged, everyone woman in the land should be up in arms when “God said, “If she wants to return, well and good. And if not, she must accept that a hundred of her children will die every day.”
But wait, from Lilith’s own mouth, “I was only created in order to sicken babies…” Did our heroine just admit to harming/abusing children? Why is it that Lilith fans do not have a problem with this? And, if Lilith is, in fact, a human and supposedly the second original human if we take ABS as truth, and she was created to harm children, does this mean all human are created for this purpose? Are we to believe the Divine intended to grow Its favored creation upon the genetics of a sexually bigoted male (Adam) and a child-abusing female (Lilith)?
How much must be ignored and rewritten to find a patron for feminists and Jewitches? I would hate to think that Lilith’s modern cult is based upon superficial emotionalism and the occasional sexy Lilith depictions one finds on Facebook feeds, but that seems to be the case. Am I wrong in my demand for cited sources with an emphasis on the discernment of the authenticity or authority of the information? I simply do not understand why Lilith is favored over Eve. Perhaps, being a demon, Lilith has a better propaganda minister. Whatever the case may be, until someone out in the world can muster a proper and logical defense of her, I cannot join the Lilith crowd.
Garden of Binah 
This article was so interesting. I have heard of Lilith all my adult life, but never knew the origin or much about her. Thank you for this.