Noa Yaron Dayan: "Sometimes, from the Lowest Point - You Can Touch the Divine Throne Itself"
Sarah, Rebecca, and Rachel our matriarchs? Miriam, the sister of Moses or perhaps Deborah the Prophetess - with whom does Noa Yaron Dayan identify more than all? "Our women are all tremendous," she replies. "Their blessings are tough, and they are strong even in their weaknesses. They all put up a profound fight to any modern feminist."
- שירה דאבוש (כהן)
- פורסם ח' אדר התשע"ז
#VALUE!
In her regular column in 'Yediot Ahronot', Noa Yaron Dayan talks about the time she was asked about a figure from our tradition with whom she identifies the most. It was during an "important panel where several important women<\/a> sat, and the crucial question from the important interviewer was directed at all of them. "There was someone who identified with Deborah the Prophetess, someone who identified with Rachel our matriarch, and I sat and tried to find within myself which woman from the entire Torah I most identify with".<\/p> And the conclusion? "I identify with all of them," Yaron-Dayan writes decisively. "With each one of them, at a different crossroad in my life. Our women are all tremendous. Their blessings are tough, strong even in their weakness. They all put up a profound fight to any modern-day feminist, they all crossed fences and boundaries of thought to make their impact, and all have great value and importance - even if not given much text in actuality.<\/p> "And I most identify with someone whose name was not even told to us, and apparently, there were several like her. A maid at the sea, that's how the Torah refers to her. A maid at the sea is the nickname for the simple and lowliest woman<\/a>, who was present at the parting of the Red Sea. It is said of her: a maid at the sea saw what even the prophet Ezekiel did not see.<\/p> "This simplest one was granted the physical eyes to see what the greatest prophets did not. Just because she too, the smallest, left Egypt. Without being anyone. Suddenly, the waters opened before her, revealing all the wonders of creation. I sometimes feel like her: a small woman, who was lucky enough to see something great. I feel like a maid at the sea: knowing who I am and how small I am, yet I cannot believe how much you can see even from here. Because a personal parting of the Red Sea occurs for every woman and every man every day. Even for the most enslaved."<\/p> Yaron Dayan continues to say that in every parting of the Red Sea, there are also maids. And every maid has her own personal parting of the Red Sea. "And then, in these moments, when the world splits itself into two before our eyes - I, along with all my brothers and sisters in bondage - none of us can see what the prophet Ezekiel saw from close range. Divine revelation is not reserved for prophets, and it is not the domain of the wise and pious alone. Sometimes, precisely from the lowly place - you can touch the divine throne itself."<\/p>
