More on Ezra and the Divorce Decree
Back in August I wrote some observations and concerns about Ezra’s decree that the people of Israel put away their foreign wives.
Today, while working on a book review, I read an article about that same passage and how it relates to modern African-American readers. The article, “Reflections in an Interethnic/racial Era on Interethnic/racial Marriage in Ezra” by Cheryl B. Anderson, outlines the ways in which the text claims to be about religious purity but in fact promotes cultural divisions along racial, class and gender lines.
Anderson states that Ezra’s emphasis on genealogical purity is actually more severe than earlier Hebrew restrictions on group membership, since earlier texts focused on ritual and/or moral purity, both of which are more amenable than Ezra’s position towards the inclusion of non-Hebrews. Anderson also argues that the decree exacerbated class differences, many of which come to a crisis during the time of Nehemiah. Similarly, she notes the asymmetry of the divorce ban–it affects wives more than husbands; Anderson connects this problem with a more widespread use of “women as Other” throughout the scriptures.
It’s nice to see that I wasn’t off track in my concerns about the implications of the text.
At the same time, Anderson demonstrates the parallels between Ezra’s decree and the anti-miscegenation laws in the United States, many of which were defended by theological arguments that deflected attention from the racial, class and gender problems that accompanied them. Thus, she claims, black readers have good reason to identify more with the divorced wives than with Ezra and his followers. If this is so, then modern readings of the texts need to pay attention to these issues lest they reinscribe the problems we have tried so hard to overcome.
The 9th Day of Christmas — What Am I Supposed to Do?
As of my count, today (2 Jan.) is the 9th day of Christmas. So there are still (counting today) four days left in the Christmas season.
The season is so odd to me. We spend so much time and energy preparing for it (during Advent), that once the season actually arrives, I’m not clear what we’re supposed to do. And then it gets interrupted by New Year’s (which for the church is the first Sunday of Advent, so it’s not our holiday)–and by football (which I don’t watch, but I know a lot of folks do).
It seems like we spend half the season recovering from Christmas Day, and the last part recovering from New Year’s. And all in all, the season is over so quickly, I’m never sure it really existed. Was there any spiritual growth occurring? Was there any spiritual ANYTHING occurring? If there was, it may be in spite of the season, not because of it.
There has to be a better way to celebrate the 12 days of the Christmas season! How can we make it more substantial?
