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 Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 2:54 am
Just wondering, do any Jewish families still tell the story of Lilith? I find her myth really fascinating and I just wanted to know if there's anyone who's heard about her, either as a story or as fact. If anyone has never heard the story, here it is briefly:
Lilith was Adam's first wife, created along side of him. The two of them did not get along because Adam thought he was better than her and Lilith thought they should be equals, so Lilith ran away from the Garden of Eden. God then made Adam a second wife called Eve from one of Adam's ribs so that Eve could not claim to be equal to Adam. Lilith was so angry at Adam that she swore that she would kill all young boys. Three angels came to Lilith and got her to agree that she would not kill any little boys so long as their parents placed a protective amulet under their beds until they were circumcised. Some Jewish families even kept boys' hair long until they were three years old in order to trick Lilith into thinking they were girls so that she would not kill them. Anyway, Lilith still felt bad for her sister Eve because she thought Eve was being oppressed by Adam, so Lilith sent her lover, Lucifer, to Eve in the form of a snake in order to open Eve's eyes up to the truth. Unfortunately, this resulted in Eve and Adam eating from the tree of knowledge of good and bad, and they became moral, whereas Lilith never ate from the tree and is thus immortal, and she's spent all of these years killing young boys and seducing men.
There are a few different versions of the story; sorry if I got something wrong. Anywho, has anyone heard that story before? If so, do you believe it, or is it just a myth? What do you think about the story in general? Do you sympathize with Lilith or think she's awful?
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Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 6:42 am
Julri Just wondering, do any Jewish families still tell the story of Lilith? I find her myth really fascinating and I just wanted to know if there's anyone who's heard about her, either as a story or as fact. If anyone has never heard the story, here it is briefly:
Lilith was Adam's first wife, created along side of him. The two of them did not get along because Adam thought he was better than her and Lilith thought they should be equals, so Lilith ran away from the Garden of Eden. God then made Adam a second wife called Eve from one of Adam's ribs so that Eve could not claim to be equal to Adam. Lilith was so angry at Adam that she swore that she would kill all young boys. Three angels came to Lilith and got her to agree that she would not kill any little boys so long as their parents placed a protective amulet under their beds until they were circumcised. Some Jewish families even kept boys' hair long until they were three years old in order to trick Lilith into thinking they were girls so that she would not kill them. Anyway, Lilith still felt bad for her sister Eve because she thought Eve was being oppressed by Adam, so Lilith sent her lover, Lucifer, to Eve in the form of a snake in order to open Eve's eyes up to the truth. Unfortunately, this resulted in Eve and Adam eating from the tree of knowledge of good and bad, and they became moral, whereas Lilith never ate from the tree and is thus immortal, and she's spent all of these years killing young boys and seducing men.
There are a few different versions of the story; sorry if I got something wrong. Anywho, has anyone heard that story before? If so, do you believe it, or is it just a myth? What do you think about the story in general? Do you sympathize with Lilith or think she's awful? I've heard of it. Can't really comment too much on her. This is because I'm not involved in Jewish mysticism nor a student of the Kabbalah, I'm afraid I'm ignorant of the significance of this myth within Judaism. Also myth does no imply falsity. Myths convey truths about the divine, ourselves, and reality using allegory and symbolism within a particular cultural context.
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Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 7:57 am
It's Midrash, and a rather speculative one at that.
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Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 11:28 am
rmcdra I've heard of it. Can't really comment too much on her. This is because I'm not involved in Jewish mysticism nor a student of the Kabbalah, I'm afraid I'm ignorant of the significance of this myth within Judaism. Also myth does no imply falsity. Myths convey truths about the divine, ourselves, and reality using allegory and symbolism within a particular cultural context. That's true. When I asked if anyone believed in it, perhaps I should have asked instead if anyone uses the myth. There certainly is a difference between taking a myth literally and taking it symbolically.
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Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2009 3:13 pm
Julri rmcdra I've heard of it. Can't really comment too much on her. This is because I'm not involved in Jewish mysticism nor a student of the Kabbalah, I'm afraid I'm ignorant of the significance of this myth within Judaism. Also myth does no imply falsity. Myths convey truths about the divine, ourselves, and reality using allegory and symbolism within a particular cultural context. That's true. When I asked if anyone believed in it, perhaps I should have asked instead if anyone uses the myth. There certainly is a difference between taking a myth literally and taking it symbolically. It's not a myth, it's Midrash.
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Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2009 5:16 pm
Lumanny the Space Jew Julri rmcdra I've heard of it. Can't really comment too much on her. This is because I'm not involved in Jewish mysticism nor a student of the Kabbalah, I'm afraid I'm ignorant of the significance of this myth within Judaism. Also myth does no imply falsity. Myths convey truths about the divine, ourselves, and reality using allegory and symbolism within a particular cultural context. That's true. When I asked if anyone believed in it, perhaps I should have asked instead if anyone uses the myth. There certainly is a difference between taking a myth literally and taking it symbolically. It's not a myth, it's Midrash. Sorry, I'm unfamiliar with that term. What makes something Midrash?
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Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 11:31 am
Well I don't really believe in any particular religious doctrine, though I find her a wonderful literary character of which I tend to make reference to every so often in my writing.
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Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 4:21 pm
Julri Lumanny the Space Jew Julri rmcdra I've heard of it. Can't really comment too much on her. This is because I'm not involved in Jewish mysticism nor a student of the Kabbalah, I'm afraid I'm ignorant of the significance of this myth within Judaism. Also myth does no imply falsity. Myths convey truths about the divine, ourselves, and reality using allegory and symbolism within a particular cultural context. That's true. When I asked if anyone believed in it, perhaps I should have asked instead if anyone uses the myth. There certainly is a difference between taking a myth literally and taking it symbolically. It's not a myth, it's Midrash. Sorry, I'm unfamiliar with that term. What makes something Midrash? If it's not in the Tanakh, it's Midrash. It's Midrash. It's made up by rabbis to express a greater point and not meant to be taken literally.
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Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 9:48 pm
*shrugs* She makes for a fair vampire story.
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Posted: Wed Dec 02, 2009 12:59 pm
Semiremis *shrugs* She makes for a fair vampire story. Yeah she has good character is all.
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Posted: Wed Dec 02, 2009 1:43 pm
SuchSweetSadism Well I don't really believe in any particular religious doctrine, though I find her a wonderful literary character of which I tend to make reference to every so often in my writing. I agree. I love writing about her, though I don't take the myth at all literally.
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Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 1:45 pm
ahhhh............. Lilith. Supposed queen on the succubus. she is a fascinating literary figure, and have tried to include her in some of my stories.
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Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2010 8:38 pm
----I've never met anyone who belived the tail, but I did meet individuals who both liked and disliked her.
---Personally I like her Neon Genesis Evangelion version, her one true inheritor is Evangelion Unit! Yui Ikari!
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Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2010 9:07 pm
Mau Aita Dirac ---Personally I like her Neon Genesis Evangelion version, (...) Agreed.
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Posted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 1:33 am
I like the character: At worst, she is a terriffic villain, at best (?) she has become massively slandered and/or misjudged by the patriarcatic rulings, and is really the true Femme, only wanting to have her rightful place. But, one might wonder what this says about Judaism in itself ..... Although, since alternate interpretations of Lilith has been mentioned, i think i should add this: According to something i've read, the word "Lilith" pre-dates the story of Adam & Lilith, and was used to refer to a specific type of Djinn ...... (Spirit/Demon). Quote: It's Midrash. It's made up by rabbis to express a greater point and not meant to be taken literally. Interesting. That rabbi, or those rabbis, took the note that were somewhere that man and woman were created at the same time, and to explain this, they named this "first femme" after a kind of demon .... and continued to say that she did not want to bow to the man, and that she eventually forsook eden, and became a demon, ultimately, mother of demons, instead ....... It is obvious that they wanted to say "any woman who claims to be equal to man, is nothing but a demon, or possibly possessed".
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