At Home and Away
12th of Adar II, 5714 [1954]
To Jewish Women, Mothers and Daughters
In the coming days, connecting the festivals of Purim and Passover, it is incumbent upon every Jewish woman, wife, mother and daughter, to reflect on the important historical part which the Jewish woman had in these festivals, and what useful lesson may be learned therefrom.
Our Law requires the Jewish woman to participate in the special mitzvot connected with the festivals of Purim and Passover (such as the Megila, Hagada, etc.), expressly stating that she merits these privileges because of the special merits of Jewish women in helping bring about the wonderful deliverances "in those days at this season."
As for Passover, our Sages tell us at length in the Midrash that it was the Jewish women who kept up the courage and spirits of their men in the most trying times of Egyptian bondage, and who, moreover, raised the generations which were to receive the Torah at Sinai and later enter the Promised Land, the everlasting inheritance of our people.
The part played by Jewish women on these two occasions was somewhat different: in the case of Passover, the woman's influence was concentrated in the home and family, ("kevuda bat melech penima"), displaying all the true feminine Jewish virtues of modesty, piety and faith. In the case of Purim, Jewish women showed that where Divine Providence places her in a position of prominence and influence, she uses it wholly for the benefit of her people, and is ready to sacrifice her very life for it, in compliance with the instructions of the religious authorities.
The two festivals, Purim and Passover, are two everlasting witnesses testifying to the devotion of the Jewish woman to the Torah and mitzvot. These festivals are living testimony that both at home and outside the Jewish woman will do her utmost to help preserve the sacred traditions and institutions of our people, even with self- sacrifice where need be.
