Judaism Unbound Episode 399: God? Gods? Goddesses? Godexes? – Tamar Kamionkowski
Tamar Kamionkowski serves as professor of Biblical Studies at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. She joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about the wide range of understandings of God in the Hebrew Bible and Jewish history, and how those understandings open up new Jewish possibilities today. Kamionkowski is also teaching an UnYeshiva course this fall called God? Gods? Goddesses? Godexes?: Diverse Theologies in the Hebrew Bible – don’t miss it!
[1] It’s not too late to sign up for Tamar Kamionkowski’s Fall ‘23 UnYeshiva course, God? Gods? Goddesses? Godexes?: Diverse Theologies in the Hebrew Bible!
[2] Read Kamionkowski’s full teaching biography on the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College website.
[3] Lex and Kamionkowski discuss “ethical monotheism” as a component of Jewish theology. Learn more about what that phrase means via Jewish Virtual Library.
[4] To hear from someone who has inherited a non-Rabbinic Judaism, check out our episode on Karaite Judaism with Shawn Lichaa, Shawn Lichaa: Judaism Unbound Episode 264 - Karaites: Bible Only, Please.
[5] To explore what Lex identifies as being an “apocryphal Jew,” see our 2022 Apocry-Fest series in collaboration with the Torah Studio.
[6] Kamionkowski brings up the Book of Jeremiah when highlighting the theologies of laypeople and non-men in the Bible. The story she references takes place in chapter 44, with special attention paid to verse 17.
[7] Dan kvells (Yiddish for “gushes”) over the Book of Ezekiel. To see what the prophet has to say, click here.
[8] Lex reads from Kamionkowski’s 2011 article about another section of the Book of Ezekiel (16:17) in Zeek magazine. Read it in full here.
[9] See here to dive deeper into the feminine God imagery and language in “Second Isaiah,” or Isaiah chapters 40 through 66.
[10] Kamionkowski cites scholar Savina Teubal’s 1984 book, Sarah the Priestess: The First Matriarch of Genesis, specifically Teubal’s suggestion that Sarah’s inability to have children reflects not infertility but rather her status as a member of a priest(ess)ly class.
[11] Lex and Kamionkowski discuss the queerness and interpretive possibility of Genesis 1:27, when God creates humankind in both male and female images. Explore this verse further via this resource by Keshet: For LGBTQ Equality in Jewish Life.
