Why is Hashem Referred to as Male in Torah?

For every question in Judaism, there are answers on any number of layers. Often, the deepest approaches challenge us to confront the premise of the question itself, such that after honest analysis we discover the difficulty was in the setup to begin with. One such example is the almost exclusive use of masculine pronouns and metaphors that refer to Hashem in the Torah.

For those who so prefer, this can be evidence of the Torah’s patriarchal stances. Or, we can choose to take a deeper look, based on our belief that every word in Torah has so much to teach us. Why is Hashem referred to as male? 

Everything is Male and Female

In order to correctly tease out this question, we first need to understand the true meaning of “male” and “female”. Far from just describing categories of human gender, the binary describes the creation and evolution of everything. The Gemara teaches, “Rav Yehuda said, Rav said: Everything the Holy One created, he created male and female”.¹ The existence of anything necessarily means it has a male and female dimension².

Lashon Hakodesh, the very tool of creation itself, personifies this: every word is male or female, both its root and its conjugation. Male and female words are not arbitrarily assigned, but are fundamentally a feature of either one or the other. 

Male and Female as Modes

We can think of male and female as two stages of development. The male is the conception, the first flash of inspiration, the seed. The male phase is a total gift, unchallenged, undeveloped, and exists in a singular dimension. It is the mashpia, the creator, the benefactor. 

The name of Hashem that takes on the feminine is “Shechina”. This name is not found within Tanach, but is often used in the Mishna, Gemara, Midrash, and later writings. There are also instances in the Oral Law where Hashem is compared to a female figure, such as in the Zohar, where a parable is used comparing Hashem to a princess.

The female dimension is the stage that takes all the time, effort, and stamina. It is the applied truth, the lessons learned in the process, and the movement within obstacles and darkness to bring the initial seed to fruition. It is the receiver and the instrument of expression.

Both modes are necessary in every process, and both will always be present. Male and female are not intrinsic to things as much as they are the fundamental pattern in the world, and so the same item or function can be male in one context but female in another. 

Masculine Side of Tradition

The descriptions of Hashem as masculine are not merely anthropomorphisms. They are used to accurately depict the mode in which Hashem operates through the majority of Tanach: the giver, the decider, the active creator. In Torah shebichtav, Hashem is operating as male vis-a-vis the world, and that is reflected in the text. 

The written Torah is itself the masculine side of our tradition. It was gifted to use by Divine revelation, an undeniable prophecy in the wake of unprecedented miracles. It was all light, complete visibility: Hashem being mashpia the ultimate gift, and us, His children, being mekabel it. In the duality of creator versus creation, Hashem obviously represents the male. 

Hashem as Feminine

The name of Hashem that takes on the feminine is “Shechina”. This name is not found within Tanach, but is often used in the Mishna, Gemara, Midrash, and later writings. There are also instances in the Oral Law where Hashem is compared to a female figure, such as in the Zohar, where a parable is used comparing Hashem to a princess.³

Of course, Hashem remains one and incorporeal no matter which name is used. The words we use to describe the Divine expression within this world are male and female but refer only to the manifestation of the one indivisible Essence that can never be described, as the Rambam writes, “…and heaven forbid that that which is called “Shechinah”…is something other than Hashem the Glorious…”⁴

What is the significance of the name Shechina? In what contexts does an omnipotent, omnipresent, unchallenged Creator take on the feminine mode?

With Us in the Dark

Shechina is the name for Hashem’s revealed state, the Divine Revelation. It is derived from the root “shachein”, which means dwelling, or neighboring. The Shechina is the Divine that miraculously comes with us into this world, and Her name is used when we see Her there: in Hashra’at HaShechina, revealed presence, when the Mishkan was Her dwelling place; and in tzaar HaShechina, Her anguish, when She is with us in exile.

The Gemara says, “Rabbi Shimon ben Yocḥai says: Come and see how beloved the Jewish people are before the Holy One, Blessed be He. As every place they were exiled, the Shechina went with them.”⁵ This is where we see the usage change: The initial name used is masculine, but once exile is mentioned, what comes with us is the Shechina. When the Infinite “shrinks” into this fallen world, as it says in Tehillim, “Imo anochi batzarah – I’m with you in your distress”, that is where we see Shechina.

What are some well-known instances of the use of the name Shechina? The Gemara outlines several principles on where Shechina can be found: She cannot reside in a place of depression or laziness, only where there is joy of mitzvot;⁶ She rests between two people who sit together and speak words of Torah⁷; She is found in a beit haknesset⁸, and was present atop the mountain at Har Sinai. Finally, the Gemara in Bava Batra⁹ learns that the Shechina is to be found everywhere. 

In some siddurim, one can find a yehi ratzon  to be recited before the fulfillment of certain mitzvot, that includes the phrase “…to unify Hashem and the Shechina”. The Goal, as the Zohar says, is for the male and female manifestations of Divinity to be reunified. When the feminine mode has been fully expressed and allowed to complete its journey, the transcendent, unknowable Name will finally be one with the imminent, intimately involved Name. The rectification of this world will remove all barriers, and then we will experience the absolute Oneness of Hashem even in this world – Hashem echad, ishmo echad. 

1. Bava Basra 74b ↩︎
2. Notice, the Gemara says “male and female”, not “or”. Male and female describe any two parts in a duality, even within one gendered being.  ↩︎
3. See Mishpatim 3 ↩︎
4. On Bereishit 46:1 ↩︎
5. Megillah 29a ↩︎
6. Shabbat 30b ↩︎
7. Pirkei Avot 3:2 ↩︎
8. Berachot 6a ↩︎
9. 25a ↩︎