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December 19, 2008
Learning from Rivka
N'Shei Chabad meeting remembers Holtzbergs.
DEENA LEVENSTEIN
Approximately twice a year, rebbetzins Dena Dubrawsky and Henia Wineberg organize a N'Shei Chabad event, an evening for Jewish women of the Greater Vancouver area.
"The goal is to unite Jewish women of all different backgrounds and to give them a sense of pride in who they are," explained Dubrawsky. They bring in professional (women) speakers who give talks on thought-provoking, inspiring topics. "The goal is to intertwine that, with elegance and kosher cuisine," she said.
The event is always hosted by one of the women in the community. The most recent gathering took place Dec. 8, when more than 100 women from across the religious spectrum convened at the home of Dr. Moira Stilwell.
Stilwell is a nuclear medicine physician and radiologist, who recently decided to enter the political arena. She is planning on running as part of the B.C. Liberal party in the next provincial election.
Stilwell, a member of Beth Israel Synagogue, had never been to a Chabad program before, at least not since her and her husband's arrival in Vancouver 13 years ago. When someone thought that she might be interested in hosting the latest N'Shei Chabad evening, she was delighted to offer her home. She was interested in the speaker, she already knew many of the women who attend and she thought, "It's a good way to meet lots of other women."
"Stilwell was amazing," said Dubrawsky. "She was the most gracious host. She was with us from when we set up until when we took everything away."
The guest speaker was Chana Weisberg, a Chabad woman who flew in from Toronto for the event. She spoke on The Crown of Creation. It was a tribute to great women, focusing on the foremothers in the Torah. It was dedicated to the memory of Rivka Holtzberg, who, along with her husband and several other Jews, was among the victims of the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai.
Weisberg quoted King Solomon, who said, "The woman of valor is the crown of her husband." She explained that the kabbalists say that every great Jewish man had an even greater Jewish woman as his wife. She spoke of the biblical Rivka (Rebecca, wife of Isaac), who rose above her extremely difficult upbringing, where she was surrounded by so much immorality. She is known as the "rose among thorns."
Weisberg talked about Rachel, who chose to be buried "on the way," in Beit Lechem, and not in the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron with all the other patriarchs and matriarchs. According to Weisberg, this was with the intention that her descendents could pray at her graveside when they passed by while being exiled from Israel and she could pray for them. They had committed serious sins, but because Rachel loved them as her own children (even when she'd never known them personally, since they lived long after she died), she was willing to sacrifice for them. From Rachel, Weisberg said, we learn, "Seeing beyond another person to the essential quality, to their soul, to the potential that lies within them."
The Holtzbergs, said Weisberg, were like Rachel. "Everyone was accepted. Irrespective of what you did, how you did it. Criminals who just came out of prison, drug dealers who were just released, it didn't matter. You were welcome at their table."
Weisberg said that when one reads the Torah, on the surface, it seems as though women only played a supportive role in a male-dominated drama. But, "when you look a little deeper, you realize the potent feminine values that were inculcated into the men."
Deena Levenstein is a freelance writer from Toronto, Jerusalem and now Vancouver. You can read her blog at www.deenascreations.wordpress.com. She also works at L'Chaim Adult Day Centre.
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