Old rabbanic tradition teaches that Eve was not Adam's first wife, rather a mysterious woman named Lilith who was thrown out of Eden before Adam and Eve were. This is a lyrical telling of that legend and what happens to Lilith as she encounters various demons outside the garden and what she says and does to Adam and Eve once they too are thrown out of the Garden of Eden. Now in larger print!

This first collection of Judith Plaskow's essays and short writings traces her scholarly and personal journey from her early days as a graduate student through her pioneering contributions to both feminist theology and Jewish feminism to her recent work in sexual ethics. Accessibly organized into four sections, the collection begins with several of Plaskow's foundational essays on feminist theology, including one previously unavailable in English. Section II addresses her nuanced understanding of oppression and includes her important work on anti-Judaism in Christian feminism. Section III contains a variety of short and highly readable pieces that make clear Plaskow's central role in the creation of Jewish feminism, including the essential "Beyond Egalitarianism." Finally, section IV presents her writings on the significance of sexual ethics to the larger project of transforming Judaism. Intelligently edited with the help of Rabbi Donna Berman, and including pieces never before published, The Coming of Lilith is indispensable for religious studies students, fans of Plaskow's work, and those pursuing a Jewish education.

"The book of Lilith tells the real story of creation. Lilith is the first human to be given a soul by God following a thirteen billion year process of mechanical, soulless evolution. Her job is to give souls to all things and awaken them to the Watcher that watches the watcher, watching the world. The first person she grants a soul to is Adam, who is given a job of his own: to invent the definition of sin, create a moral sense in a world that utterly lacks one, and hence bring about the rule of law in a compassionate society. Unfortunately, Adam has a hard time accepting the fact that he was given his soul second, instead of first, and by Lilith, not God. The conflict this engenders leads to the destruction of Eden, the creation of Eve, and a voyage of self-discovery that spans a world"--P. [4] of cover.

Lilith: The Legend of the First Woman by Ada Langworthy Collier. Lilith, The Legend of the First Woman is a 19th-century narrative poem in five books, written by the American poet, Ada Langworthy Collier, in 1885, and published in Boston by D Lothrop & Company. It has been reprinted several times in the 21st century. That Eve was Adam's second wife was a common Rabbinic speculation. Certain commentators on Genesis adopted this view, to account for the double account of the creation of woman, in the sacred text, first in Genesis i. 27, and second in Genesis xi. 18. And they say that Adam's first wife was named Lilith, but she was expelled from Eden, and after her expulsion Eve was created. Abraham Ecchelensis gives the following account of Lilith and her doings: "There are some who do not regard spectres as simple devils, but suppose them to be of a mixed nature-part demoniacal, part human, and to have had their origin from Lilith, Adam's first wife, by Eblis, prince of the devils. This fable has been transmitted to the Arabs, from Jewish sources, by some converts of Mohamet from Cabbalism and Rabbinism, who have transferred all the Jewish fooleries to the Arabs.

Eve was not Adam's first wife. That honor belongs to Lilith, who was created as Adam's equal. When he tried to dominate her, she uttered God's secret name and flew away. Lilith is mentioned in the Talmud, elaborated on in the midrash and in the kabbalah, whispered about in stories, and passed down from mother to daughter. In this anthology, a vivid, provocative, and enlightening sampling of Jewish women's written responses to the Lilith myth are offered. The editors have provided the space for contemporary women to link themselves to a tradition and participate in a sacred activity, thereby infusing energy into Lilith and creating a new tradition.