HOW WOMEN AND GIRLS REVITALIZED JEWISH RITUAL by RONI HANDLER and LORI HOPE LEFKOVITZ

he image of Jewish ritual life in former ish ritual practice more generally. women forever changed the look of liberal times is often -differentiated: The first American bat (Judith Jewish ritual. Decades later, in response to the Thair-covered women lighting candles; Kaplan’s, in 1922) challenged the separate identified needs of adolescent girls for esteem- tallit-wrapped men waving the lulav; men spheres of Old World , but as late as building systems, Kolot developed Rosh populating the shul and yeshiva; women pre- the 1980s, we still wondered if baby naming Hodesh groups for girls, a program now pro- siding over the kosher kitchen. There is an ceremonies for daughters (the simchat bat or mulgated by Moving Traditions. ancient mandate that each generation partici- zevet habat) would ever attain the level of reli- Scholars recovered women’s non-canonical pate in the making of for itself. In our gious significance as the Torah-ordained brit traditions from Jewish communities around the times, this mandate has found its fullest milah (circumcision) for boys. Families never- world. These included a North African custom response in the enfranchisement of women, theless thoughtfully created welcoming rituals of Chag Habanot (Festival of the Daughters), as Judaism has evolved in tandem with a (from tallit wrapping to foot washing), wrote embedded in Chanukah, on Rosh Hodesh. As non-negotiable secular ethic of egalitarianism personally meaningful naming prayers, and Jill Hammer describes it, the heroism of and inclusiveness. That which began as an unearthed appropriate song and liturgy from Judith (whose story, like that of the Maccabees, effort to redress women’s ritual inequality has earlier generations. Among the first traditions is found in the Apocrypha) was celebrated; girls had the startling effect of reinvigorating - revived by was the ancient received presents and prayers and concluded Festival of the New Moon, a mini-Rosh any lingering quarrels. This unique occasion for Hashanah associated with women’s piety in girls balanced the otherwise all-male reso- Roni Handler, a rabbinical student at the Recon- midrashic literature and, traditionally, distinc- nances of Chanukah’s more familiar stories structionist Rabbinical College, edits Ritualwell.org tively observed by Jewish women. Rosh Hodesh about warriors and the Temple priesthood. under the direction of Lori Hope Lefkovitz, the Sadie groups, the Jewish version of consciousness Until Rabbi Debra Orenstein developed Gottesman and Arlene Gottesman Reff Professor of Gender and Judaism at RRC. Lefkovitz is also the raising groups, met to study, eat, talk and her Lifecycle volumes in the 1990s (Jewish Founding Director of Kolot: The Center for Jewish sanctify the coming month in women’s com- Lights Publishing, 1998), few of us knew that Women’s and . Her new book is In munity. These initiatives fueled creativity and women in the shtetl recycled the etrog from Scripture: The First Stories of Jewish Sexual Identi- scholarship. Bringing color and decorative Sukkot for fertility rites, used the wimple that ties (Rowman & Littlefield, 2010). arts to the fabrics for kippot and tallitot, these binds the Torah as a focus object during labor

8 CONTACT That which began as an effort to redress women’s ritual inequality has had the startling effect of reinvigorating Jewish ritual practice more generally. and routinely recited techines ( message of future redemption, Miriam has ment with Judaism revitalizes the tradition prayers). Rabbi Nina Cardin taught us that the become Elijah’s analogue at other ritual occa- and enhances our lives. In recent decades, might offer a red stone and blessing sions that have classically invoked the women ritual experts have been among our to a woman hopeful of pregnancy. Women prophet, such as at the bris, where Miriam, best teachers in adapting the tradition to new began to ritually acknowledge other life stages like Elijah, may now find a chair awaiting her circumstances. For example, the Jewish wed- and transitions. Savina Teubal’s simchat arrival. Miriam, like Elijah, is sung to at ding, ancient and beautiful, implicitly sancti- chochma (the wisdom celebration) included havdalah (with new lyrics by Rabbi Leila Gal fies an intention to be fruitful. Since modern wearing a kittel (the shroud that makes us Berner), and because this ritual marks separa- often intentionally delay bringing chil- mindful of mortality on Yom Kippur or tion (between Sabbath and workdays), havda- dren into the family, Rabbi Nina Cardin has Pesach), tree-planting, Torah study and song. lah has become a time when families, recalling suggested including the Sheva Brachot in Bir- Debbie Friedman’s Lechi Lach, invoking Abra- that Abraham had a weaning ceremony for kat Hamazon (Grace after Meals) on the PHOTOGRAPHS BY BETH SHEPHERD PETERS ham and Sarah’s setting forth, was written for Isaac, might add blessings to acknowledge this Shabbat when a couple makes this momen- the occasion and is now a staple of contempo- important transition in the life of nursing tous decision. In keeping with the custom of rary ritual. More recent innovations include mothers. Ritual immersion in the , once some Ashkenazi families to add a candle to coming out and gender-transition rituals. rejected by liberal Jews because of outmoded the Shabbat candelabrum with each birth, Scholarly reconsiderations of Jewish associations with women’s “ritual impurity,” Cardin suggests that upon conception, an sacred texts reminded us that women in the has been reclaimed for the healing of physical unlit candle be placed there, ritually antici- Torah flourished tambourines to honor God’s and psychological damage, in both the antici- pating life potential. In the sad event of a miracles, that Jephthah’s daughter and her pation and conclusion of cancer treatments miscarriage, the candle is lit during the week companions mourned for women’s losses and before weddings and graduations. The and burned down, a mini-yahrzeit candle, four days a year, and that Miriam — whose Fast of Esther, which precedes Purim, has correcting traditional Judaism’s ritual neglect name contains the Hebrew for “sea” — pre- been similarly invested with contemporary of this devastating experience. More happily, sided over water miracles from watching purpose. Mindful of details in Esther’s story, when a baby arrives, the candle becomes a Moses at the Nile to leading song at the part- the Mistabra Institute for Jewish Textual Activ- weekly Shabbat addition. ing of the Red Sea. Jewish lore includes “Mir- ism called attention to the international crisis These rituals as well as many more are iam’s Well” filled with life-saving water. The of trafficking in women; Jewish Orthodox available on www.ritualwell.org, an archive of decorative tambourines as well as Miriam’s Feminist Alliance (JOFA) attends to the plight contemporary rituals sponsored by Kolot: Cups that now grace some contemporary of the (the “chained” woman who The Center for Jewish Women’s and Gender seder tables restore an ancient female pres- requires a legal divorce); and Kolot is develop- Studies. From rituals for the environment to ence to contemporary Jewish ritual practice. ing Ta’anit Esther as a Jewish Day for Social getting a driver’s license to prayers for the As Miriam’s Cup — filled with spring Justice to annually support the lifesaving work Thanksgiving table, men and women have water to commemorate miracles past and pres- of a contemporary Queen Esther. contributed strategies for revitalizing Jewish ent — balances Elijah’s wine-filled Cup and its Jews’ devotion to and thoughtful engage- practice and honoring life. ■

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