(27) And God created the human in his image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them.
Robert Alter Commentary on Verse 1:27
In the middle clause of this verse, "him," as in the Hebrew, is grammatically but not anatomically masculine. Feminist critics have raised the question as to whether here and in the second account of human origins, in chapter 2, 'adam is to be imagined as sexually undifferentiated until the fashioning of woman, though that proposal leads to certain dizzying paradoxes in following the story.
(כא) וַיַּפֵּל֩ יְהוָ֨ה אֱלֹהִ֧ים ׀ תַּרְדֵּמָ֛ה עַל־הָאָדָ֖ם וַיִּישָׁ֑ן וַיִּקַּ֗ח אַחַת֙ מִצַּלְעֹתָ֔יו וַיִּסְגֹּ֥ר בָּשָׂ֖ר תַּחְתֶּֽנָּה׃ (כב) וַיִּבֶן֩ יְהוָ֨ה אֱלֹהִ֧ים ׀ אֶֽת־הַצֵּלָ֛ע אֲשֶׁר־לָקַ֥ח מִן־הָֽאָדָ֖ם לְאִשָּׁ֑ה וַיְבִאֶ֖הָ אֶל־הָֽאָדָֽם׃ (כג) וַיֹּאמֶר֮ הָֽאָדָם֒ זֹ֣את הַפַּ֗עַם עֶ֚צֶם מֵֽעֲצָמַ֔י וּבָשָׂ֖ר מִבְּשָׂרִ֑י לְזֹאת֙ יִקָּרֵ֣א אִשָּׁ֔ה כִּ֥י מֵאִ֖ישׁ לֻֽקֳחָה־זֹּֽאת׃ (כד) עַל־כֵּן֙ יַֽעֲזָב־אִ֔ישׁ אֶת־אָבִ֖יו וְאֶת־אִמּ֑וֹ וְדָבַ֣ק בְּאִשְׁתּ֔וֹ וְהָי֖וּ לְבָשָׂ֥ר אֶחָֽד׃ (כה) וַיִּֽהְי֤וּ שְׁנֵיהֶם֙ עֲרוּמִּ֔ים הָֽאָדָ֖ם וְאִשְׁתּ֑וֹ וְלֹ֖א יִתְבֹּשָֽׁשׁוּ׃
(21) And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the place with flesh instead thereof. (22) And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from the man, made He a woman, and brought her unto the man. (23) And the man said: ‘This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.’ (24) Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh. (25) And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
(יח) עזר כנגדו עזר שיהיה כמו שוה לו בצלם ודמות כי זה הכרחי לו בידיעת צרכיו והמציאם במועד' ואמר כנגדו כי הנכנס לכף נגד דבד א חר כשיהי' שוה לו בשקל יהי' נגדו בקו ישר אבל כשלא יהיו שוים שני הנשקלי' יהי' זה עולה וזה יורד ולא יהיו זה נגד זה בקו ישר ובזה האופן אמרו רז''ל שקול משה כנגד כל ישראל אמנם לא היה ראוי שיהי' העזר שוה לו לגמרי כי אז לא היה ראוי שיעבוד וישרת אחד מהם לחבירו:
(18) עזר כנגדו, a helpmate who will be equal to him, also reflecting the divine image. This is essential for him if he is to know what precisely his needs are and so that he can meet them in time. The reason why the Torah added the word כנגדו is that whenever one confronts someone of equal power, moral and ethical weight, such a confrontation is termed נגד. It is a head-on collision of will. When the two parties disagreeing are not of equal power, or moral/ethical weight, the confrontation is termed as one being עולה or יורד one of the adversaries either prevailing or losing in such an encounter. It is in this sense that we have to understand such statements as משה שקול כנגד כל ישראל, “that Moses was the equal of the entire Jewish people.” (Mechilta Yitro 1) However, the Torah did not mean for woman to be 100% equal to man, else how could the man expect her to perform household chores for him, etc.? Hence the letter כ at the beginning of the word כנגדו somewhat tones down this equality.
Resolution Adopted by the CCAR
Women in Reform Judaism
Adopted by the CCAR at the 86th Annual Convention of
the Central Conference of American Rabbis
1975
WHEREAS the Central Conference of American Rabbis is a professional organization we address ourselves to special concerns of the rabbinate as a profession, and
WHEREAS the Reform movement has ever affirmed the religious equality of women, and
WHEREAS the Central Conference of American Rabbis has expressed its support of the Equal Rights Amendment, and
WHEREAS we firmly believe that women should be full and equal partners in all areas of synagogue and community life,
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that we express our concern that, despite the basic principles of our Movement, there are still Reform congregations in which family memberships are listed by the man's name only. We call upon all members of the CCAR to review all policies and programs of our synagogues and communal institutions to insure that men and women share equally in responsibilities and opportunities.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we urge all our members and congregations to nominate, elect and appoint qualified women to positions of leadership within the synagogue and community, to invite women to participate in every aspect of synagogue ritual including Aliyot and the privilege of carrying the Torah during the Hakafot . We call for greater sensitivity to the feelings and needs of women in liturgical language and practice. We stress the need to provide customs and ceremonies which are meaningful to both men and women. We urge our congregations to institute a Bat Mitzvah ceremony which is comparable in every way to the existing Bar Mitzvah ceremony and to introduce other life-cycle ceremonies for females equivalent to those now conducted for males. We emphasize the importance of encouraging young girls to participate in the life of the synagogue.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we call upon all our members and congregations to review their religious school curricula and textbooks to be certain that traditional stereotypes are not being reinforced without presentation of new role models and that young girls are not being made to feel that their place is solely in the home. We direct the Commission on Jewish Education to develop new materials which stress the numerous contributions women have made to Judaism and humanity and which emphasize the possibilities that exist for female participation within the Jewish community.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we express once again our total support of the ordination of women. We call upon the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion to continue to seek qualified female candidates for the rabbinate and cantorate, and we urge our congregations and all others who employ Rabbis and cantors to choose their spiritual leadership not on the basis of sex but in terms of individual ability and competence.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we call upon the HUC-JIR, the UAHC the WUPJ and the CCAR to nominate, elect and appoint more women to their governing bodies in keeping with the historic commitment of our Movement to the religious equality of women.