She, the Rabbi, Speaks

She's reading "This week's portion, Bamidbar, [which] begins with instructions to take a census of the Israelites, head by head, each man attached to his ancestral household."

And the Velveteen Rabbi writes, "The tradition traces Jewishness through the mother, but this census takes note of men and their fathers -- no mention of the women at all."

And Rachel Barenblat speaks:

HEAD BY HEAD (BAMIDBAR)

Take a census
family by family
listing the names
every female, head by head . . . .

Listen: Who is "recording," and who is "the recognized head of her ancestral house," and who is "able to plant seed," and "who can teach the ways" usually given only to men?