[Avodah] HaShem HaMelech

[Micha Berger]

We were discussing the new Maxwell House Haggadah and its use of gender
neutral language. I commented that I found that "the four children"
is more accurate than "the four sons" since that better describes the
mitzvah of sippur yetzi'as Mitzrayim.

On Sun, Apr 10, 2011 at 4:32 AM, I wrote:
: More problematic is that while HQBH may not be a "King" more than a
: gender-neutral "Monarch", I think He is more of an "Av" than an "Eim" --
: in that fathers are much more often away from the child. By removing the
: gender bias, one creates a different mental image, and thus a different
: metaphor than the original.

On Sun, Apr 10, 2011 at 02:02:46PM -0700, Simon Montagu replied to
Areivim:
: The nevi'im use both metaphors -- e.g.
: http://mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1066.htm#13, a pasuk which was very important
: to me when I was sitting shiv`a for my mother, lo aleichem.

That pasuq is a simile, not a metaphor. IOW, Hashem isn't called a
Mother, Hashem says "Like a person who is comforted by his mother,
so I will comfort you." The comparison is made without elevating
Mother to a title.

But in any case, even if I agreed with this example, it would reinforce
the idea that the metaphor of Father and Mother are distinct, and the
non-specific Parent is thus not identical to the original.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Spirituality is like a bird: if you tighten
micha at aishdas.org        your grip on it, it chokes; slacken your grip,
http://www.aishdas.org   and it flies away.
Fax: (270) 514-1507                            - Rav Yisrael Salanter