Standing Again at Sinai Characters

Standing Again at Sinai Character List

Simone de Beauvoir

Beauvoir authored a book called 'The Second Sex.' Beauvoir is quoted by Plaskow in 'Standing Again at Sinai’ as one of the first feminists who confidently condemned male's dogmatism. According to de Beauvoir, women are discriminated against by the male gender, which has to stop. Plaskow supports de Beauvoir assertions throughout her feminist book.

Cynthia Ozick

Ozick is among the confident women who criticize the Torah. The Torah leaves out women's experiences, and their participation goes unnoticed. For instance, Ozick faults the Torah when it says that humanity should never listen to women's ideas.

Abraham

Abraham is the husband of Sarah, and his authority cannot go unobserved. For instance, Abraham is frequently mentioned in the Bible and is even called the father of nations. The author uses Abraham to symbolize the Bible's bias because no page or text refers to Sarah as the mother of nations, and yet she was the wife of Abraham.

Sarah

Sarah is the wife of Abraham and the mother of Isaac. She takes part in the covenant between Isaac and God, but her role is intentionally omitted in the biblical story.

Rebekah

Rebekah is the wife of Isaac and mother to Jacob. Rebekah is a woman rarely mentioned in the religious stories despite her more in-depth understanding of God.

Isaac

Isaac is the son of Abraham and Sarah. Abraham is commanded to sacrifice him by God, and he does but stops his father from offering him after confirming his faith. Isaac makes a covenant with God, but his mother's contribution to the entire process is not documented in the Bible.

Jacob

Jacob is the son of Isaac and a grandson of Abraham. Jacob's biblical stories start from the book of Genesis, chapter 25. Jacob is the ancient ancestor of the Israelites.

Joseph

Joseph is the son of Jacob and the youngest among the other eleven brothers. His biblical story revolves around men, an indication that women's role is either ignored or overlooked in the Bible.

Men

Men are the dominant gender in the book, and the entire narrative revolves around how religious texts are tailored to favor the male gender. According to the book, the female gender is created to respect men.

Women

Women are the overridden gender, which is mostly absent in the Jewish religious stories (Torah). This gender is also described as the object of men in all aspects.

Israel

Israel is the personified character to represent the biblical role of a woman. The author writes, "Israel in her youth is a devoted bride, subordinate and obedient to her husband, God.

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