Both feminists and traditionally-minded Christians—although many fewer rabbis—have tended to interpret the opening chapters of Genesis as a justification for male domination over women. But Roslyn Weiss reads the account of the creation of man and woman, and the relationship between Adam and Eve, in a different light:
It is, after all, the woman who lacks nothing; she even contains a part of the man. The man, by contrast, is now incomplete: a piece of his body has been removed. Furthermore, the woman was never alone; from the start she had a companion. She is introduced into the world to satisfy the neediness of another, but she herself is not needy. Adam is delighted at the sight of the woman when they are first introduced to one another. He exclaims: “This one at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh” (Genesis 2:23). There is no comparable reaction on the part of the woman.
God corrects the first flaw in Creation—the loneliness of the man—by creating the woman. But the creation of woman gives rise to a second flaw: the man becomes so attached to the woman that he obeys her rather than God. This, too, must be rectified, and so God levels the playing field of desire.
Read more at Jewish Review of Books
More about: Adam and Eve, Genesis, Hebrew Bible, Women