Women Have Special Role During Chanukah
By DR. MARGARET SILVERMAN EICHNER
In some Sephardic communities
the women feel they are entitled to
unusual and special treatment
during Chanukah. The women and
girls fill the synagogue, remove the
Torahs from the Ark, and each, in
turn, kisses the holy scroll. The
rabbi extends his arm over each
and recites the benediction: "May
God who blessed our matriarchs
Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and
Leah . 2 etc. A special prayer,
invoking the Almighty's protection of
the ladies is also said. After this
ceremony, the evening service is
read and the Chanukah lamp is
kindled. Then the women eat
cheese dishes and sing and dance.
Many women refrain from
working throughout the eight-day
festival, being especially careful to
avoid housework. The Shulchan
Aruch tells us "It is a custom for
women not to work while the
candles burn."
This sounds like a terrific new
way for women to celebrate
Chanukah! But further research
sheds new light (excuse the pun):
"Even where each member of the
family lights his own lamp, the
woman of the house need not light
one for herself if her husband
lights." This is because husband
and wife are considered as one.
Although women are exempt from
performing time-bound mitzvot,
when legislation regarding the
Chanukah lamp was written, women
were specifically included. "Women
therefore have the same obligation
as men ..." She can light for the
entire househould and for a man if
he is not able (again, the Shulchan
Aruch).
So, women are seen as legally
responsible for a time-constrained
commandment (rare), they are not
expected to clean the house (also
rare!), and they eat cheese (not so
rare but incongruous given the "oil"
connection to the holiday).
More research uncovers two
stories about women and their
historical role in the Festival of
Lights:
Antiochus established a set of
harsh decrees to break the will of
the "stubborn" Jews. Among his
Anti-Jewish decrees was the
Continued on Page L-8
ff. Want A Pen Pal? Write To A Soviet Jewish Family
One way to learn about Jewish
life around the world is to write to a
Jewish family in another country.
What is daily life like in the pen
pal's country? What is Jewish life
like? How are the holidays
celebrated? To help our readers
learn about Jews around the world,
L'Chayim is making available
addresses of Jewish families in
communities abroad.
This month, the address of
Russian Jewish refuseniks were
made available by the Soviet Jewry
Committee of the Jewish
Community Council. Before writing,
please read these special rules for
corresponding with Russian Jews:
Letters should be personal,
warm sympathetic, and should ask
about birthdays, anniversaries and
family events. Cards should be
exchanged on these occasions and
on the Jewish holidays as well.
Avoid any anti-Soviet material and
refrain from mentioning names of
Soviet Jewry rescue organizations.
Russian, Yiddish, Hebrew or
English may be used. The standard
way to address a letter to the Soviet
Union is the reverse of the
American way: USSR, Name of
Republic, Name of City, Address,
Addressee (last name first). The fee
is 44 cents per 1/2 ounce, up to two
ounces.
This month's refusenik family is
that of Lev Furman, an electronics
engineer from Leningrad, USSR,
who has been denied an exit visa
on the grounds of "secrecy" since
1974. Furman is seeking to emigrate
with his wife, Marina; daughter,
Aliyah; and father, Michael.
Since he applied to emigrate,
Furman has been the subject of
KGB harassment and has frequently
been interrogated and threatened.
He also has been arrested several
times. His elderly father was even
arrested for giving him permission
to emigrate.
During his wife's pregnancy,
she was threatened by the KGB that
there might be "trouble" when she
tried to deliver. During labor, the
KGB threatened her physician who
subsequently withdrew from the
case. Another physician performed
the delivery.
Letters of support may be sent
to the family at USSR, RSFSR,
Leningrad 191028, Pestelia 13/15-16,
Furman, Lev.
Remember Soviet Jews At Chanukah
The Soviet Jewry Committee of
the Jewish Community Council of
Metropolitan Detroit has asked the
community to remember the plight
of Soviet Jews who cannot celebrate
Chanukah because of religious
repression in Russia. A special
pamphlet, The Unlit Menorah, offers
the following instructions and
reading:
Keep an extra unlit menorah
next to the one you light each night.
Let it remind you and your family
that as you celebrate this joyous
holiday and the triumph of religious
freedom, there are still tens of
thousands of Jews in the Soviet
Union who are denied this
opportunity.
After reciting the blessings over
the candles have your family join in
reading "Let There Be an End At
Last" which follows:
Let there be an end at last to
the years of darkness and suffering
of our brothers and sisters in the
Soviet Union. As we remember the
struggle of the Maccabees we are
reminded that even today Soviet
Jews are not free to learn the
language of their fathers; to pass on
their religious traditions and their
past; to train the teachers and
rabbis of future generations; and
they are not free to leave without
harassment.
We remember the Jewish
Prisoners of Conscience, the Asirei
T'Zion who sought to live as Jews
and struggle to leave for Israel —
the land of our fathers — but now
languish in Soviet labor camps or
exile.
May we have the strength and
will on this Chanukah to light up the
darkness that envelopes the lives of
our brothers and sisters in the
Soviet Union. As they assert
themselves in the tradition of the
Maccabees, may they be joined by
all freedom loving people who are
aroused by their plight and may
Soviet Jews soon emerge into the
light of freedom. Amen.
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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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