Der geteilte Mensch. Einige Gedanken zu Schöpfung, Transformation und Geschlecht in der rabbinischen Tradition

The Jewish Rabbinic Traditionhas developeddifferent views on the creation of man. One version speaks of the first man as androgynous, having both male and female parts. As a consequence, man and woman are described as belonging together from the beginning, split asunder violently, yearning for each other. On the other side, rabbinic texts speak of the first Adam as – more or less – being male, and of Eve as the result of a surgery. The consequences are far-reaching. Eve as the second in creation is the model of a subordinated being,Adamamaster and commander. After the fall of man, Eve is depicted as responsible for the death of Adam, punished with, for example, the commandment of Niddah (menstrual laws). Thepaper gives an introduction into both different explanatory models of the creation of man, its cultural context, and explains how gender is defined by the rabbis via the myth of creation.