God of Our Mothers:  What Our Matriarchs Teach Us About Connecting to God

The image of God as “King” reverberates throughout the High Holiday liturgy. This image evokes a hierarchical relationship with God, suggesting that we relate to God as subjects. Rosh Hashanah’s Torah and Haftarah readings, however, center our foremothers. In this course, we will explore what these matriarchs teach us about connecting to God. Additionally, their stories open up another metaphor for relating to God: God as “Mother.” 

A quick note about the term “mother:” 
In The Obligated Self: Maternal Subjectivity and Jewish Thought, Mara Benjamin argues that the physical and psychological work of caring for young children, which was considered “women’s work” for centuries, is fruitful ground for exploring the relationship between us and the Divine. In this course, following Benjamin, we will use the terms “mother” and “maternal” not as an attempt to link these attributes to a specific gender, but to elevate traits once seen as feminine and maternal as desirable traits for all genders to embrace. 

Register below! Registration is for the entire course, not individual sessions. The Zoom link will be in the confirmation email that you receive upon registration. This course is free and open to Hazak and TBS members.

July 24 - Hannah: Maternal Intimacy with God

July 31 - Rachel's Tears: Activating God’s Maternal Compassion

August 7 - Shofar of our Mothers

August 14 - Mothering a God Who Mothers Us

If you have any questions, please contact Ellen Spitz.