Women in the Bible: The Heroines and the Harassed

I apply my art—traditional tapestry—to the portrayal of stories told in the Bible. In my series Women in the Bible I have been moved to interpret the stories of great heroines: Miriam, Hagar, Esther, Deborah, Lot’s Wife, Delilah, and others.

However, there are other women in the Old Testament who continue to play a major role in my artwork: those who have been harassed, abused, raped. They represent for me the silent voice and for that they have a place in my heart and in my imagination.

I have decided to unite them—these stories that tell of women throughout history—in a more comprehensive series: Women in the Bible: The Heroines and the Harassed. 

Here are examples of the stories that speak to me, both from the series in its original conception and from its new, broader expression. I am thankful that in those stories of a more tragic nature, the events are not softened. Instead, the conflicts in which these women were caught are recounted in a quite straightforward manner. These conflicts—whether political or personal—illustrate the unique role that women have played in our history. They are illustrative of women’s central role in the socio-political culture of our lives then and today.

I have created a triptych relating to the way that rape has been depicted in the Old Testament. A difficult subject to deal with through art, rape is nonetheless a part of our story as women throughout history. Art can prove cathartic when approaching the deepest level of our functional daily existence—emotional and physical.

In the three episodes of rape in the Bible, the stories of Dinah, Tamar, and the Maidens of Shiloh, I find no personal voice, no understanding, no punishment based on the act itself, but only the excuse or the tool that triggers or attempts to justify.

The following are designs for a tapestry series. Conceived of as a triptych and dedicated to a heroine of several biblical legends: SERAH BAT ASHER. This forms the final sequence in my biblical odyssey–WOMEN IN THE BIBLE. The Eitz Haim commentary indicates: “It is inconceivable that Jacob’s 12 sons should have had 53 sons and only one daughter. In light of the general tendency to omit women from the genealogies, there must be some extraordinary reason for her mention” (in Genesis 46:17 and Numbers 26:46).

The first tapestry in the triptych relates to exactly this commentary. When thinking about who would accompany those on the important mission of going down to Egypt, it is striking that a woman would be considered. The significance of Serah’s mention struck me and I had to express this in my tapestry. Serah is portrayed as a strong and compassionate leader “projecting her own light.”

In the second tapestry of the triptych I took as inspiration the moving story of Serah as a young, beautiful, and already wise woman who was appointed by Joseph’s brothers to reveal to her grandfather Jacob that Joseph was alive. Serah, who lovingly cared for Jacob, chooses to accomplish her task in a gentle manner by playing the harp and singing “Joseph is alive.” She later reveals that she sang a melody she heard the angels singing.

The third and last in the series relates to Serah as the sole Israelite who saw the angels gather to watch the children of Israel cross the Sea of Reeds. She reveals that “the walls of water looked like mirrors in which every man, woman, and child was reflected, therefore making it seem that an even greater number of people crossed–the present generations along with their descendants.”

One of the legends reports that she died in a fire at a synagogue; another that she never actually died. Instead, she is like Elijah wandering around the world. Yet another–my own favorite–says that a fiery chariot took her to heaven, where she teaches and presides over those women who tended the old and sick during their lifetimes.

The importance of Serah’s role is of a person whose wisdom interconnects generations.