Connection is the word that comes to mind when I think about the Chabad Women’s Circle meeting. For me, the meeting was a timeout from my busy schedule when I could connect with other women over learning, traditions, coffee, and of course our passion for our Jewish identities. My Jewish knowledge up to this point in my life comes from my years spent in Hebrew school, a few stays in Israel, and my own family traditions, but coming together with other women gave me the chance to see the important role a woman plays in Judaism, something I did not learn as much about in my elementary Jewish education.
Each meeting focused on one of the three mitzvoth required of women. Through learning about these, connections were forged not only among us in the group, but with the centuries of Jewish women who have carried out these same mitzvoth. My favorite that we discussed was the lighting of Shabbat candles, because at the same moment one woman lights candles on Shabbat, women all over the world are doing the same. A beautiful picture, a la Fiddle on the Roof pops up in my mind of homes lit up across the community, all in celebration of Shabbat, connecting Jewish women as they carry out the traditions of their female ancestors.
I recently traveled to Israel where I celebrated Shabbat with a host family. Before sundown the mother, daughter and I lit candles. It was a time to reflect on welcoming Shabbat, to think about how in ten hours the women I knew back home would be doing the same, and how connections can be made with the simplest of gestures, such as candle lighting, braiding a loaf of challah, or coming together to lean with other bright, young, Jewish women. The women I have met in the Women’s Circle are the ones I can learn with, learn from, and share inspiration, all in the name of deepening our connections with our Jewish roots, and cementing our place as women in the modern Jewish world.
Marla wrote...