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At the AML Conference this year, Rebekah Call, a doctoral student in Religious Studies: Critical Comparative Scripture at Claremont Graduate University, presented a close read of her poem “The Burden of Imbalance: Eve’s Lullaby to Seth,” then performed it set to music she also composed.
Few of us had even heard of Rebekah before, but none of us are likely to forget the time we spent with her. Following an intellectual and perhaps holy explanation of its words, her performance of “Eve’s Lullaby” blew us away. After answering some questions, she was asked to sing it again. Phones came out, and at least one of the recordings was later sent to Rebekah who has posted it on her YouTube channel.
Below is this recording, followed by her original proposal.
This submission is an original artistic rendering in poetry and song of Eve’s lullaby to the child Seth, and is based on rigorous textual analysis of the Hebrew Bible. The presentation utilizes a transdisciplinary method: it is a non-academic work of art that is rooted in the academic approach, involving an in-depth exploration of the Genesis narrative surrounding Eve. This examination of the text draws from various sources such as modern scholarship, the Hebrew Bible, the Hebrew language itself, the Mishnah, and Church doctrine, and investigates ideas including atonement and covering, nakedness and clothing, the concept of time in the Ancient Near East, and the significance of names in the Hebrew text. A live performance of the piece will follow the analysis.
