you were my snake," as the justification for her name (Theodor and Albeck 1965, 195). In a similar vein we find, in the same context, "Rabbi Haninah the son of Rabbi Idi said, 'From the beginning of the book and until now, there is no letter s. When the woman was created, the Satan was created with her'" (ibid.).
20
These exceptions to the cultural pattern, while not insignificant, only draw further attention to the much more common discourse that opposes them. The most extended piece of contempt for women produced in the midrash is from Bereshit Rabba, and even here the discourse is complicated; despite the open misogyny of the passage, once it turns to procreation, the emphasis is positive:
|
 | | They asked Rabbi Yehoshua, "why is the male born face down and the female is born face up?" He said to them, "the male looks to the place from which he was created [the earth], and the female looks to the place from which she was created [the rib]."
|
| | "And why does the woman have to perfume herself, and the man does not have to perfume himself?" He said to them, "Adam was created from the earth, and the earth never smells rotten, but Eve was created from a bone. If you leave meat for three days without salt, it will smell bad."
|
| | "And why does the voice of a woman carry but not that of a man?" He answered, "It's like a pot which if you fill it with meat, its voice will not carry, but if you put one bone in it its voice carries."
21
|
| | "Why is it easy to pacify a man, but not a woman?" He said to them, "Adam was created from the earth, once you put on it a drop of water, it immediately swallows it up. Eve was created from a bone; even if you soak it for several days, the water will not be absorbed."
|
| | "Why does the man pursue the woman, and the woman does not pursue the man?" He answered, "To what is the matter similar, to a person who has lost something; he seeks the lost object, but the lost object does not seek him."
|
| | "Why does the man deposit seed in the woman, but the woman does not deposit seed in the man?" He answered, "It is like one who had a valuable object; he searches for someone who is reliable to deposit it with."
|
|
|
