Jephthah's Daughter.The Book of Judges recounts the history of the Israelite people after settling in the promised land, as the tribes struggle against neighboring peoples such as the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Ammonites This list of ammonites is an attempt to create a comprehensive listing of all genera that have ever been included in the subclass Ammonoidea, excluding purely vernacular terms. and the Moabites. The story of Jephthah's Daughter (Judges 11) tells us that Jephthah the Gileadite made a vow to the Lord before going into battle with the Ammonites. He vowed that if he succeeded in battle he would offer up to the Lord as a burnt offering burnt offering n. A slaughtered animal or other offering burned on an altar as a religious sacrifice. whatever first came forth from the doors of his house to meet him. When his daughter (who is unnamed in the text) comes out with timbrels and dances to greet him, he rends his clothes, saying that she has brought him very low and troubled him, but that a vow to God cannot be retracted re·tract v. re·tract·ed, re·tract·ing, re·tracts v.tr. 1. To take back; disavow: refused to retract the statement. 2. . She does not protest, but obtains permission to spend two months in the mountains with her companions, to bewail be·wail tr.v. be·wailed, be·wail·ing, be·wails 1. To cry over; lament: bewail the dead. 2. her virginity. When she returns, Jephthah fulfills his vow. An epilogue tells us that it was a custom for the daughters of Israel to lament her death for four days each year. Jephthah's Daughter: A Lament is a ceremony which offers an opportunity to grieve the sacrifice of Jephthah's daughter, and to ponder the meaning of her sacrifice to us today. Groups of women are invited to experiment with the text. A group may choose to read or perform the entire Lament, or it may select sections. JEPHTHAH'S DAUGHTER: A LAMENT And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the vow which he had vowed; and she had not known man. And it was a custom in Israel, that the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year. Judges 11:38-39 (Performers come onstage to this chant, which may be repeated between sections of the performance.) Going forth in mourning Returning in joy Going forth in mourning Returning in joy Going forth in mourning Returning in joy MOUNTAINTOP moun·tain·top n. The summit of a mountain. (The chorus is motionless. Two voices read, the italicized voice interrupting.) Sacrifice: The act of offering something to a deity in propitiation pro·pi·ti·a·tion n. 1. The act of propitiating. 2. Something that propitiates, especially a conciliatory offering to a god. Noun 1. or homage, esp. the ritual slaughter Ritual slaughter may refer to the following:
The heart asks pleasure first. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. And then excuse from pain. And then -- Considered to have a greater, as they say, value or claim. A grander. A greedier. Such as a father. Such as a vow. A sequence of special higher-than-legal-more-sublime. Words. Such as a father might utter to One. The relinquishment of something at less than its presumed value. Something so relinquished. Such as a daughter. A loss so sustained. The father has. Lost the daughter. The father has sacrificed the daughter. He has-- we have-- beloved one blessed are lost her. Holocaust: Great or total destruction, especially by fire. Widespread destruction. Disaster (bad stars). A sacrificial offering that is entirely consumed by flames. Cf. Holokaustos, burnt whole. Sacer, sacred + facere, to make. It is made sacred by sacrificing it. SUNRISE: WE EMERGE FROM THE FOREST INTO A CLEARING (Full chorus, almost dancelike, but uppercase is shouted) Into a sacred clearing from the forest of our lives every year it is a wild high climb The presence of God is in the rocky ridge Rocky Ridge is the name of various places in the United States and Canada:
the wildflowers the stunted pines the ghostly wind Light stands on the mountain almost too bright like the truth from which our people hide their eyes Today we do not remember the angel, the ram, the Ram, The, English name for Aries, a constellation. thicket we remember the war and the death of our sister The sons of Ammon were coming we feared their army we begged Jephthah be our leader The spirit of God was upon him he made a great slaughter when he returned home he was greeted by his daughter (Sopranos alone) For he had one daughter, no other to praise him after the war so the child danced out with timbrels and with dancing from the door But Jephthah rent his clothes he said you have brought me very low if a man open his mouth to God he must fulfill his vow Then the child asked leave to go two months in the mountains to bewail her virginity among her companions. Two months in the mountains. (Omnes) AND JEPHTHAH HOME FROM SLAUGHTER WAS GREETED BY HIS DAUGHTER! LITTLE FUGUE fugue (fy  g) [Ital.,=flight], in music, a form of composition in which the basic principle is imitative counterpoint of several voices. (A section for several voices: A begins loudly then continues softly under the voice of B, who speaks her section twice, then yields to C, who speaks very quickly, etc. Variations can be tried; in any case the overall effect should be one of cacophony, but each voice should be heard clearly at least once. The final section is to be said in unison by all speakers. The duration of this piece should be no longer than one minute.) A. She weeps in the night her tears are on her cheek my eye, my eye runs down with water because the comforter is far from me B. The Lord is become an enemy he has swallowed up Israel (2x) C. He actually blames her claims she made him compelled do to her this awful thing can you believe never otherwise lament D. Fault stands in door fault fault fist is his whoever cries be hit (2x) E. Obedience shallow law repeat repeat a tale of terror repeat comply complain complain comply deny deny OMNES: Want to say no want to jump in want to say stop stop stop want to stop being afraid, want the power to say no INTERROGATION interrogation In criminal law, process of formally and systematically questioning a suspect in order to elicit incriminating responses. The process is largely outside the governance of law, though in the U.S. AND REPLY (The implicit question asked by this section is what keeps someone in an apparently oppressive or abusive situation when the option of walking out seems possible. The question has many resonances, including the issue of the feminist within a patriarchal religion, and the issue of God in a post-holocaust age. The structure of the piece is modelled on the alphabetical acrostics of the Book of Lamentation lamentation, n a prayer expressing affliction or sorrow and requesting defense, retribution, or comfort. .) In the beginning, the wound is invisible. Edmond Jabes A question to pose to the celebrants. The participants. You women, of outraged eyes and grinding teeth, resemble birds whipping themselves against the walls of a room into which they have accidentally flown. In its frustrated attempts to escape a bird becomes frenzied. It leaves bloodspots on the walls. But here no walls exist. Against what do you fling yourselves so extravagantly? -- Against this very question, hurling ourselves at it in vain. This irresistible, unanswerable question encloses us like the swaddling swad·dle tr.v. swad·dled, swad·dling, swad·dles 1. To wrap or bind in bandages; swathe. 2. To wrap (a baby) in swaddling clothes. 3. To restrain or restrict. n. blanket around the squirming infant. Like a Polish chimney. Like a used star. Like a crown and a balloon. Like a glass bell jar. -- Because walls of stone or plaster would include windows from which to climb, doors to unlock, keyholes to squint squint: see strabismus. through, we are not permitted images. Instead, we inhabit a penitentiary penitentiary: see prison. of fire (or alphabets) which is a cage of cages. -- Chained to earth from before the beginning of the world, the destiny of the human heart is to ache. We alone offer it the exalted thin wind of the mountaintop. -- Do you think you are immortal? Do you think you are innocent? We will die but we cannot abandon our sister. Do you claim we are extravagant? Do you believe we are strident? Have you heard that if you save one life it is as if you saved the universe? Down the collapsed mineshaft mine·shaft n. A vertical or sloping passageway made in the earth for finding or mining ore and ventilating underground excavations. Noun 1. of time we call until our voices grow hoarse, we are coming though we delay. We beg our sister to breathe, to forgive our slow machinery. -- Expert at stillness, we are whirling in place like Sufis. We are dancing We Are Dancing was a music television program that aired on MTV from the early to mid 1980s that featured various new wave acts performing daily. The show was hosted by Townshend Coleman. on the inflamed heart. As it heaves heaves, chronic pulmonary emphysema in horses. Heaves is characterized by the disruption of normal lung tissue with resultant loss of the lung's elastic recoil. A forced expiratory effort is needed to empty the lungs of air. we almost fall. -- From the forest of our lives into the clearing lightning rapes the mountaintop violent like the truths of which we only dream forgetting the ancient screaming of God answers our scream - God who is One warns us that to escape is to perish. Beyond these nonexistent non·ex·is·tence n. 1. The condition of not existing. 2. Something that does not exist. non walls they have removed the air! Did you not know that? Nothing is outside but vipers and tigers. -- Her desire was for her beloved. Her boyfriends, her girlfriends, her life. -- If a baby is beaten by a parent, and then put down on the floor, the baby will crawl, not away from the parent, but toward. So we-So we-- -- Just then I stood in the doorway of a ruined stone castle. A tuft tuft (tuft) a small clump or cluster; a coil. tuft (toothbrush), n part of the toothbrush head, refers to the small, individual clusters of bristles that proceed from a single opening. of thick grass lay beneath my feet. The Mediterranean sun hammered against my forehead until it felt like a brass amphora. I offered my brass forehead as a bride. Here, I said, is the soul. Before me tumbled the hillside of grass and boulders to the sea edge. The blue sheerness offered itself as a husband. -- Killing God, killing God... if I walk away God will commit suicide Verb 1. commit suicide - kill oneself; "the terminally ill patient committed suicide" kill - cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly; "This man killed several people when he tried to rob a bank"; "The farmer killed a pig for the holidays" . He threatens it. I cannot risk it. - Lovely little lies. The truth is that we are afraid of our passions. And afraid of history. -- More lies. The truth is that we are terribly, passionately hopeful. The truth is that we are tethered Attached to a data or power source by wire or fiber. Contrast with untethered. like fiery-eyed horses. The truth is a mystery. The truth is, it is a mystery. The truth is that the razor is in my pocket. -- No, the truth is that we are on vacation. Lament, for us, is recreational. A pilgrimage is an excuse for adventure, look at Chaucer, look around, women in every culture pursue some religious rites or other, groveling grov·el intr.v. grov·eled also grov·elled, grov·el·ing also grov·el·ling, grov·els also grov·els 1. To behave in a servile or demeaning manner; cringe. 2. massively, doing novenas, wearing veils, lighting candles, you must perceive that this is not simply a matter of oppression. Of course they are oppressed op·press tr.v. op·pressed, op·press·ing, op·press·es 1. To keep down by severe and unjust use of force or authority: a people who were oppressed by tyranny. 2. . Of course we are. The ritual of lament faithfully encodes our oppression and we enact our part faithfully. On another mountain you might see women from a neighboring oppressive culture excising the clitorises and labia of their daughters. We might exchange signals from our twin peaks. Or not. And for Jephthah's daughter, we get four whole days off from work. -- One may not desert the sickbed sick·bed n. A sick person's bed. of a friend. Or of a nation. -- Perhaps the story has been edited, perhaps the daughter was a priestess, perhaps the vow was not an accident: what then? -- The Question always is how to go on living after the holocaust
kibbutz Israeli communal settlement in which all wealth is held in common and profits are reinvested in the settlement. The first kibbutz was founded in Palestine in 1909; most have since been agricultural. enough? How about Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall Concert hall in New York, N.Y., U.S. It was endowed by the industrialist Andrew Carnegie at the insistence of the conductor Walter Damrosch (1862–1950). and the invention of land-of-the-free America by Hollywood? And being dredged from the Mississippi riverbottom with your black and white companions? -- Riverbottom mud, the unassuaged, the infinite screaming of the moon. -- Since Isaac was saved, they can pretend that men are not wounded. Since Jephthah's daughter was a woman, they can pretend that her murder was insignificant. Since Adonai transcends the body, they can sacrifice the planet. These imbecilities make us, too, writhe as if bound upon an altar. -- To let go, we once knew, was to plunge into the abyss. Suddenly we learn that there is no abyss, or rather that the abyss is everywhere. Now we cling with desperate arms and legs, because we love the smell of God. The milk-yielding nipples of God. God's tongue. -- Underneath everything we are women. Hear us sigh. Do not call us sweetness. -- Very often we meet on the mountaintop for the same reason that we perform in the theater of religion. Here we are allowed to wear masks. And if you question people in their masks, they will tell the truth. And we love the truth. -- What strategies we have used to survive. How inventive our means, how diligent our metamorphoses. We use even the moon. Even the mountaintop. -- X = the unknown that may yet be discovered, the truth that may yet be born, for the sake of which I am prepared to pierce a hole in the membrane of God. Let him not dare to show his face. I would reach into his gizzards and drag out the Goddess concealed there, all these centuries, even if he himself denies that such a Goddess exists. He is ignorant of her existence because of his terrible busy memory. --You remember that it is the obligation of every Jew to remember. --Zero my fate, infinite my dream. RAIN FALLS ON THE MOUNTAINTOP Can these bones live? --Ezekiel 37:6 No one bears witness for the witness. --Paul Celan (To be performed slowly, with grief.) She has no name, has neither face nor eyes they were drowned in blood they were burnt by fire She is a garden shut, a fountain sealed She sought her beloved and found him not no kisses of the mouth no child at breast no belly of heaped wheat she is the song of nothing and never She loved the man she called father a great a mighty warrior a rock an outstretched out·stretch tr.v. out·stretched, out·stretch·ing, out·stretch·es To stretch out; extend. outstretched Adjective arm his enemies fled she ran after his love she praised she danced hallelujah Hallelujah (hăl'əl `yə) or Alleluia (ăl–) [Heb.,=praise the Lord], joyful expression used in Hebrew worship; cf. Pss. father but he was angry He said she hurt him, she caused him grief he took her she consented he raised the knife she lay on stone and showed her throat she said blessed be he who protects and saves who comforts the captive and raises up the dead Her father will die at a good old age but where was the angel to stop his hand where was the sacred messenger who is this God of stone and knife and fire why does he hide, what can he see when a woman prays will he ever hear From the forest of our lives into the clearing rain falls on the mountaintop soaking the wordless stone year after year like the truth of tears IN TIME (Three voices together speak the epigraph ep·i·graph n. 1. An inscription, as on a statue or building. 2. A motto or quotation, as at the beginning of a literary composition, setting forth a theme. , then one by one the separate parts.) Of our own accord, with our intelligence and understanding, we can distinguish between good and evil, doing as we choose. Nothing holds us back from making this choice. Maimonides So then there was a moment in time the knife might fall or it might not fall So then there is a moment in time the knife may fall or it may not fall there is a moment in time FIRE (Chorus divided into portions. May be a sequence of alternating or mixed alto and soprano voices.) To cause to burn! To add fuel to! To maintain or intensify a fire in! To bake in a kiln! To arouse the emotions of! To detonate det·o·nate intr. & tr.v. det·o·nat·ed, det·o·nat·ing, det·o·nates To explode or cause to explode. [Latin d or discharge (a firearm, explosives, or a projectile projectile something thrown forward. projectile syringe see blow dart. projectile vomiting forceful vomiting, usually without preceding retching, in which the vomitus is thrown well forward. )! Fire a rifle! Fire an electron! Informal: to discharge from a position; dismiss! Catch fire. On fire. Under fire. Firepower. The Lord thy God is a consuming fire and that which passes through the fire returns to its nature the beauty of fire, the beauty of fire, the beauty and the secret of fire is that to burn something is to send it back, released from its body, to the energies of the other world. To see a fire raging is to see the process of transformation hereby matter returns to spirit, with one's own ecstatic eyes - wood, cloth, flesh, what were they before the cosmos was formed? They return in glory and fury. The smallest campfire, or the smallest flame in a domestic oven or wood stove, proves that Death is everywhere, vividly enacting his rights and exerting his powers and prowess and that to die is to be unwritten, ravished RAVISHED, pleadings. In indictments for rape, this technical word must be introduced, for no other word, nor any circumlocution, will answer the purpose. The defendant should be charged with having "feloniously ravished" the prosecutrix, or woman mentioned in the indictment. Bac. Ab. and ravishing rav·ish·ing adj. Extremely attractive; entrancing. rav  ish·ing·ly adv. and they say that whenever something is burned it is an outburst of the violence of God who is light, rock, flame who is creation's roar behind all sound SHE REFUSES TO BE COMFORTED (A single voice) Yes I am dead Yes I was a daughter of Israel Yes I am nameless Yes my father was a very great warrior Yes the spirit of the Lord came upon him Yes the Ammonites were delivered into his hand Yes I ran after his love I praised I danced Yes he had opened his mouth to the Lord Yes he felt pain he blamed me Yes I went with my companions on the mountains Yes for two months I lamented my virginity Yes I was a girl I wanted love Yes I wanted a man to push into me Yes like a long flash of light and babies to push out Yes my companions kissed me and embraced me Yes the men lay me on stone like a sheep Yes I was naked like a sheep Yes I cried God God Mama Yes the angel of the Lord rescued my ancestor Isaac Yes the Lord sent a messenger to stop the father's hand Yes he would save a boy but not save me Yes we are born into a theater of war Noun 1. theater of war - the entire land, sea, and air area that may become or is directly involved in war operations theatre of war field of operations, theater of operations, theatre of operations, theatre, theater, field - a region in which active Yes the violence of my father is a mirror he holds to the face of God Yes I was unblemished Yes I was a proved virgin Yes I am very long dead Yes I am weeping Yes what else do you want of me LAMENT There is no immutable IMMUTABLE. What cannot be removed, what is unchangeable. The laws of God being perfect, are immutable, but no human law can be so considered. moral principle to countermand COUNTERMAND. This word signifies a. change or recall of orders previously given. 2. It may be express or implied. Express, when contrary orders are given and a revocation. of the former order is made. what humankind will do if left to the willfulness and negligence and indifference and callousness of its unrestraint. Cynthia Ozick <noinclude></noinclude> Cynthia Ozick (born April 17, 1928, New York City), is an American writer, the daughter of William Ozick and Celia Regelson. She earned her B.A. Holocaust, from Gr. holokaustos, a sacrifice wholly consumed by fire; a burnt offering. (Full chorus, call-and-response, crescendo) how is she slain who was full of life holocaust holocaust our eyes run down with bitter water holocaust holocaust never to be scholar worker leader holocaust holocaust physician judge rachmanes din holocaust holocaust image of God denied rejected holocaust holocaust how many daughters sisters mothers holocaust holocaust how to lament the unremembered holocaust holocaust is there any sorrow like this sorrow HEARTBREAK (Full chorus, immediately following the previous section) sorry for him feel feel sorry for him son of a whore sorry for him he opens he opens sorry for him feel the poor bastard the poor bastard it hurts him it hurts him, feel sorry for him the poor despised bastard the despised rejected lonely bastard feel it inside every heartbreak an older heartbreak inside every injustice a deeper injustice he opens his mouth sorry sorry feel it DEATH AND THE MAIDEN Death and the Maiden may refer to:
(This call-and-response section should be considered optional. If performed, it may be best to speak it almost in a whisper, implying a tone of desolation comparable to that of "Lament." The verb may remain present tense pres·ent tense n. The verb tense expressing action in the present time, as in She writes; she is writing. Noun 1. present tense - a verb tense that expresses actions or states at the time of speaking present , "We sacrifice..." or may be changed to past tense past tense n. A verb tense used to express an action or a condition that occurred in or during the past. For example, in While she was sewing, he read aloud, was sewing and read are in the past tense. Noun 1. , "We sacrificed...") We sacrifice this girl in the theater of war For the Lord your God is a jealous God We sacrifice this girl in order to spell our names See now that I, even I, am he We sacrifice this girl to strengthen our hearts to combat the enemy that surrounds us. Thou shalt shalt aux.v. Archaic A second person singular present tense of shall. break them with a rod of iron, Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. We sacrifice this girl today because we sacrificed her yesterday, last year, a thousand years ago, it is a tradition of holiness. For the Lord our God is holy We sacrifice this girl because her hair is long and powerful Sin began with a woman, and because of her we all die We sacrifice this girl because she danced at the wrong moment Her filthiness was in her skirts We sacrifice this girl that blood surge from her cut throat. We sacrifice this girl that her soft new body become ash and cinders cin·der n. 1. a. A burned or partly burned substance, such as coal, that is not reduced to ashes but is incapable of further combustion. b. A partly charred substance that can burn further but without flame. , and we smash what remains of her pelvis. And let her put away her harlotries from her face, and her adulteries from between her breasts We sacrifice this girl to protect ourselves from impurity im·pu·ri·ty n. pl. im·pu·ri·ties 1. The quality or condition of being impure, especially: a. Contamination or pollution. b. Lack of consistency or homogeneity; adulteration. c. . For the lips of a strange woman drop honey And her mouth is smoother than oil We sacrifice this girl because she asked for it. For all his ways are justice. MOUNTAINTOP (Full chorus, but the italicized words should be a single voice to be heard as wind, spirit, ruach--the voice of God who finally replies.) Going forth in mourning returning in joy From the forest of our lives into the clearing weeds grow on the mountaintop between the stones Birdcalls fly from shrub to shrub the spirit of God is in their twittering twit·ter v. twit·tered, twit·ter·ing, twit·ters v.intr. 1. To utter a succession of light chirping or tremulous sounds; chirrup. 2. a. like a truth that is sweet Wind increases shiver and listen is it the wind is it a voice You who lament you are the one you be my angel you be my sacred messenger you stop the warriors hand it will take ages it will begin today you will die many times you will slip in blood you will be humbled you will fail it will take all your strength it will appear to take forever it will begin today we must go forth in mourning we will return in joy AN UNCLOSED un·close v. un·closed, un·clos·ing, un·clos·es v.tr. 1. To open. 2. To disclose. v.intr. 1. To be opened. 2. To undergo disclosure. CLOSURE ("Mountaintop" may conclude the performance of "Jephthah s Daughter: A Lament." Performers will freeze for applause. They will then walk toward the audience but instead of bowing, an option is the following naming ceremony A naming ceremony is the event at which an infant is given a name or names. They can occur anywhere from mere days after birth to several months afterwards. Some of these ceremonies have religious or cultural siginifcance. .) The performer who has read the part of Jephthah's daughter steps forward one step, and speaks: Remember me and tell me what is my name The other performers step forward one by one to stand at her side. Each states her own name. When they have all done so, it may be possible to gesture toward the audience, inviting members of the audience to state their own names. I desired mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. Hosea 6:6 Alicia Ostriker Alicia Suskin Ostriker (born November 11, 1937) is an American poet and scholar who writes Jewish feminist poetry.[1] [2] [3] Ostriker was born in Brooklyn, New York to David Suskin and Beatrice Linnick Suskin. is the author of nine volumes of poetry, most recently The Little Space: Poems Selected and New, which was a National Book Award finalist in 1998. She is also the author of The Nokedness of the Fathers: Biblical Visions and Revisions, a combination of midrash and autobiography. Ostriker is a Professor of English at Rutgers University. |
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