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The Haftarah Tradition and the Metaphori

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The ancient prophet Hosea's portrayal of God as an abusive husband and Israel as an unfaithful wife continues to shape Jewish liturgical practice through the traditional Haftarah reading of Hosea 2, perpetuating harmful patriarchal ideologies in contemporary worship. Through close reading of biblical and midrashic texts, comparative analysis of prophetic literature, and examination of contemporary rabbinical interpretations, this research reveals how the metaphoric language of divine-human relationship consistently portrays violence against women as acceptable, with Israel depicted exclusively through demeaning feminine imagery despite the entire community's collective sins. What began as a metaphor intended to convey God's compassionate devotion instead normalizes psychological and physical abuse within marriage by suggesting that suffering purifies the relationship. Contemporary rabbinical commentators continue to employ these problematic metaphors without acknowledging their misogynistic implications. Using feminist hermeneutics, this analysis demonstrates the need for critical reevaluation of such liturgical texts, proposing alternative Haftarah selections from historical precedents and arguing for new metaphorical frameworks based on genuine partnership rather than domination. This work contributes to feminist biblical scholarship and practical liturgical reform within Jewish tradition.

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    Published 1992

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    Naomi Graetz