Some people search for the missing link in order to learn more about the evolution of human kind. Dorit Kedar is looking for the missing link of the demonic species – especially for the lost chapter of the biography of the demoness Lilith.
Social history mostly focuses on the elite is usually written from their perspective. If one wants to familiarize oneself with the rest of the population - especially with women - one should implement creative approaches.
Lilith is mentioned only 13 times in the Talmud and there is not even one Talmudic story told by a woman. Moreover, ideas that did not correlate with the establishment’s agenda were censored. In order to detect these lost ideas, I had to look between the lines of canonical texts, as well as seek corpora like apocrypha, pseudo apocrypha, prescription manuscripts of magic, and incantation texts. A particularly surprising discovery was that the incantation bowls contain plenty of information concerning the habits and customs of the demoness Lilith as well as of women of different social strata, especially sorceresses.
Lilith first appeared on a Babylonian terracotta relief from the epic of Gilgamesh. Her next performance on the historical stage was in the 8th century when Ben Sira crowned her the first Eve, allowing her to be a flesh and blood woman for but a brief moment in history.
Questions such as where was Lilith during that time, how was she occupying herself and what was her contribution to society during her percolation from the Mesopotamic to the Jewish community, are answered in the book "Lilith: the Jewish Demoness – 1000 Years of Border-Line Personality"
Keeping track of demoness Lilith has led me upon a wild ride in which I encountered different archetypes such as conservative rabbis and their disciples, or excluded women who spent all their lives in the private sphere and on the other end of the feminine social spectrum- sorceresses who gained status and power. And of course, let us not forget the concealed citizens that shared the same dwelling place and obeyed the same laws – the demons and the evil spirits.
The purpose of my book is to shed light on an extraordinary magical aspect of Jewish society and it's heroes in the times of antiquity.
