It is a fact of history that all of the Rabbis of the Talmudic age were men. Actually, every Rabbi -- from antiquity to modernity -- were men until 1972, when the first woman was ordained. Similarly, in other religious and secular traditions, the male perspective has dominated almost exclusively -- to the extent that "man" was a term used to mean humanity and the pronoun "he" was considered gender-neutral.
Throughout history, the male perspective was seen as normal, while the female viewpoint was held to be particular to women (as opposed to recognizing both as distinct to their gender or both as conditioned by social factors).
Occasionally, however, recognition of the harm caused by the suppression of women peeks out from under the smothering blanket of male domination. Such a moment of insight emerges from the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
The Rabbis of the Talmudic age, sensitive and honest readers of the Torah, noticed a discrepancy between the command of God to Adam and Adam's paraphrase to Eve of God's command.
God instructs Adam, "Of the tree of knowledge of good and bad, you must not eat of it; for as soon as you eat of it, you shall die." Dutifully, Adam informs Eve of God's command. Apparently, however, he adds one small phrase. When Eve relates her husband's words to the snake, she paraphrases God's instruction as, "You shall not eat of it, nor touch it, lest you die" -- a version she must have received from her husband.
Just as in the children's game, "Telephone," the more people who transmit a message, the more distorted and garbled that message becomes. God-to-Adam-to-Eve-to-the-snake was apparently one layer too many.
The Midrash Beresheet Rabbah states that the snake "took her and thrust her against [the tree]." The snake's action forced Eve to see that, in fact, touching the tree did not cause her death, so she reasoned that there would be no harm in eating from it either. We still live with the tragic outcome.
According to Avot de-Rebbi Natan, an ancient Midrash to Pirkei Avot (The Teachings of the Sages), Eve reasoned, quite logically, that Adam had lied to her. After all, part of what he said was clearly untrue -- one could survive touching the tree, so why not survive eating from it as well?
The lesson of the Midrash is quite clear: the disproportionate centrality of men and male dominance breeds disaster. Eve is not the villain in this story. While she is responsible for choosing to eat the fruit, she is also a victim of patriarchal exclusion. Adam shared his wife's responsibility in that he did not clearly communicate God's will to Eve. God is partly responsible, having spoken only to Adam, while intending to obligate Eve as well.
Invidious hierarchy among people, assigning a greater worth to one human being over another, is misguided and dangerous. The Midrash says that in those days, "Eve addressed Adam only as 'my master.' " But mastery of another person corrodes both individuals -- master and underling -- while simultaneously muting God's word.
After the expulsion from Eden, Eve stopped viewing Adam as master, moving humanity on the long and unfinished road toward true equality. Only as equals can men and women be a source of insight, support, love, and guidance to each other. Only as equals can we guide each other on the road ahead.
Shabbat Shalom.