for the creation of a society that no longer construes difference in terms of superiority and subordination. . . In the Jewish context, this means re-forming every aspect of tradition so that it incorporates women's experience (Plaskow xv).
The clear implication is that woman's experience has been omitted from Judaism, or at least distorted:
Women have lived Jewish history and carried its burdens, but women's perceptions and questions have not given form to scripture, shaped the direction of Jewish law, or found expression in liturgy (Plaskow 1).
The central Jewish categories are Torah, Israel, and God, and all have been construed from the male perspective:
As woman appear in male texts, they are not the subjects and molders of their own experiences but the objects of male purposes, designs, and desires (Plaskow 2).
This reality begins with the conception of God as male. This is a key conception in patriarchal theology, and while it does not itself give rise to patriarchal structures, it does support patriarchy as a religious and legal system:
When Torah is thought of as divinely revealed in its present form, the subordination of women is granted the seal of divine approval. When God is conceived of as male, as a king ruling over his universe, male rule in society seems appropriate and right (Plaskow 22).
The development of God as a male can be considered historically, to show how this conception came to dominate. The creation stories in Genesis indicate that the human being was created by God, and the account as it now stands was written by looking backward from Israel's experience of God's action in creating and saving it as a people. The account derives from different traditions which now presen
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