ַ֤ו יַּ יָּ ֤ רֶ ם בַּ מַּ טֶּ הַ֙ו ה֗ ָו הְֹי
רְַפ
רֲא שֶׁ ֣ םִ֙י דֲָע בָ
אַ הֲרְֹ֜ו ה֔ ֹע עְֵל
יֵּ הַָו
֥ בִַּי ם אֲשֶׁ ר ־ דָ ֽ םְל אְֹ֖י
with menstrual blood 12, covenantal blood 13, Nile blood 14 seeping into the cracks so that the light gets in 15.
We remember how we were trafficked in Egypt 16, how our uncle cheated us of our wages 17 and sought to do us violence 18.
We have been saved by stories of the wiliness
12
There are places in the Zohar where Shekhinah is characterized as a menstruating woman, as contaminated with uncleanness and forces of the Sitra Ahra, the other side. This subverts that image, imagining the menstrual blood as a powerful and cleansing force.
13
There’ s a tradition, often unquoted, that when the Israelites smeared blood upon the lintels of their doors in Egypt, the blood consisted of blood of the paschal lamb, of circumcision, and menstruation.
Ñ מֶַּ֙ א ת ־ הַ ׀ ַיַּו ה ן כַּאֲשֶׁ ֣ ר 14 ִצ ה֣ ָוּ
׃ ַבּ אְֹ֔י ר י נֵ ֣ י וּ לְ עֵ י נֵ ֖ י ֑ י ו ֥ פ וּ כׇּ ל ־ הַ מַּ ר Moses and Aaron did just as GOD commanded: he lifted up the rod and struck the water in the Nile in the sight of Pharaoh and his courtiers, and all the water in the Nile was turned into blood— Exodus 7:20
15
See Leonard Cohen ' s song“ Anthem”
16
See Genesis 12:16
17
Genesis 31:41
18
According to some interpretations, including the Haggadah of Passover, Laban is the Aramean who sought to destroy Jacob / Israel. When Jacob, Leah, Rachel, and family flee from Padan Aram, after Laban cheats Jacob of his wages year after year, he pursues them with an entourage of men and the threat of violence, which is only averted through Rachel’ s cunning and God’ s warning to him. See Genesis 31:29
שׂוּ ־ כֵן֩ מֹשֲֶׁ֨עֽ
֛כְ
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