Content below excerpted from The Hebrew Goddess by Raphael Patai, 1990
(טו) וַיַּעֲנ֣וּ אֶֽת־יִרְמְיָ֗הוּ כׇּל־הָאֲנָשִׁ֤ים הַיֹּֽדְעִים֙ כִּֽי־מְקַטְּר֤וֹת נְשֵׁיהֶם֙ לֵאלֹהִ֣ים אֲחֵרִ֔ים וְכׇל־הַנָּשִׁ֥ים הָעֹמְד֖וֹת קָהָ֣ל גָּד֑וֹל וְכׇל־הָעָ֛ם הַיֹּשְׁבִ֥ים בְּאֶרֶץ־מִצְרַ֖יִם בְּפַתְר֥וֹס לֵאמֹֽר׃ (טז) הַדָּבָ֛ר אֲשֶׁר־דִּבַּ֥רְתָּ אֵלֵ֖ינוּ בְּשֵׁ֣ם יְהֹוָ֑ה אֵינֶ֥נּוּ שֹׁמְעִ֖ים אֵלֶֽיךָ׃ (יז) כִּי֩ עָשֹׂ֨ה נַעֲשֶׂ֜ה אֶֽת־כׇּל־הַדָּבָ֣ר ׀ אֲשֶׁר־יָצָ֣א מִפִּ֗ינוּ לְקַטֵּ֞ר לִמְלֶ֣כֶת הַשָּׁמַ֘יִם֮ וְהַסֵּֽיךְ־לָ֣הּ נְסָכִים֒ כַּאֲשֶׁ֨ר עָשִׂ֜ינוּ אֲנַ֤חְנוּ וַאֲבֹתֵ֙ינוּ֙ מְלָכֵ֣ינוּ וְשָׂרֵ֔ינוּ בְּעָרֵ֣י יְהוּדָ֔ה וּבְחֻצ֖וֹת יְרוּשָׁלָ֑͏ִם וַנִּֽשְׂבַּֽע־לֶ֙חֶם֙ וַנִּהְיֶ֣ה טוֹבִ֔ים וְרָעָ֖ה לֹ֥א רָאִֽינוּ׃ (יח) וּמִן־אָ֡ז חָדַ֜לְנוּ לְקַטֵּ֨ר לִמְלֶ֧כֶת הַשָּׁמַ֛יִם וְהַסֵּֽךְ־לָ֥הּ נְסָכִ֖ים חָסַ֣רְנוּ כֹ֑ל וּבַחֶ֥רֶב וּבָרָעָ֖ב תָּֽמְנוּ׃ (יט) וְכִֽי־אֲנַ֤חְנוּ מְקַטְּרִים֙ לִמְלֶ֣כֶת הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וּלְהַסֵּ֥ךְ לָ֖הּ נְסָכִ֑ים הֲמִֽבַּלְעֲדֵ֣י אֲנָשֵׁ֗ינוּ עָשִׂ֨ינוּ לָ֤הּ כַּוָּנִים֙ לְהַ֣עֲצִבָ֔הֿ וְהַסֵּ֥ךְ לָ֖הּ נְסָכִֽים׃ {ס}
(15) Thereupon they answered Jeremiah—all the men who knew that their wives made offerings to other gods; all the women present, a large gathering; and all the people who lived in Pathros in the land of Egypt: (16) “We will not listen to you in the matter about which you spoke to us in the name of the LORD. (17) On the contrary, we will do everything that we have vowed-d—to make offerings to the Queen of Heaven and to pour libations to her, as we used to do, we and our fathers, our kings and our officials, in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty to eat, we were well-off, and suffered no misfortune. (18) But ever since we stopped making offerings to the Queen of Heaven and pouring libations to her, we have lacked everything, and we have been consumed by the sword and by famine. (19) And when we make offerings to the Queen of Heaven and pour libations to her, is it without our husbands’ approval that we have made cakes in her likeness-f and poured libations to her?”
A multi-pronged system in which:
male dominance is enforced by violence, which is a product of war;
the control of female sexuality ensures the transfer private property and slaves which are the spoils of war in the male line;
and the system as a whole is legitimated by religion.
She argues, based on contemporary research on matriarchies (which are not the mirror image of patriarchies) that patriarchy is not eternal or universal, but that it arose in history, and is inseparable from the rise of warfare and other forms of domination.
*author of "Why Women Need the Goddess" and other feminist/Goddess-oriented publications
The Kabbalistic concept of Tikkun Olam, Repairing the World, focuses on redeeming hidden light. Today we'll look to redeem light that has remained in exile under the Patriarchy.
He is the founder of Lurianic Kabbalah. He taught:
Before God created the world, the entire universe was filled with a holy presence.
God took a breath to draw back and make room for the world.
From that first breath, darkness was created. And when God said, “Let there be light,” lightness was created, filling vessels with holy light. God sent those vessels to the world, and if they had each arrived whole, the world would have been perfect. But the holy light was too powerful to be contained, and the vessels split open, sending sparks flying everywhere. Some of God’s holy light became trapped inside the shards of the vessels.
And now we can see what the Jewish Torah, AKA the Christian Old Testament, has to say about witches. The excerpt below, published in Exodus 22:18, is explained via the Sanhedrin tractate of the Talmud, or oral Torah.
Another translation says "it is women who mostly practice witchcraft."