[net.religion] Answers -- Gender

smb@ulysses.UUCP (12/09/83)

Jewish lore speaks of the "Shechinah" -- the Presence of G-d -- in the
feminine form.  The Shechinah was believed permeate the Temple in Jerusalem;
after its destruction, there are references to the Shechinah being present
in synagogues as well.  The Kabbalists in particular often personified the
Shechinah, often in the feminine from.  There is some evidence that the
Christian concept of the Holy Ghost was derived from the Shechinah.


		--Steve Bellovin