Women's Minyan

by Naomi Ragen

  CHANA: Just as I like it. You remembered. [taking a sip.] It looks good on you, the head covering, Bluma. [taking out her gift.] I brought you a silk one. It’s your favorite color—sky blue. [BLUMA doesn’t take it.] Come, sit.

  BLUMA looks at SHEINHOFF, who nods her approval. She sits near her mother, leaving some distance between them.

  CHANA: [hurt.] How is your husband? [no answer.] Are you…happy?

  BLUMA: [hedging.] I accept God’s will. One shouldn’t complain.

  CHANA: In which yeshiva is he learning?

  BLUMA: [angry.] He isn’t learning. He has a job in a printing plant. He learns in the evenings.

  CHANA: [placatingly.] So you’ll have an income. Not every man has to be a scholar. You’ll have time to raise your children, when they come, God willing.

  BLUMA raises her head, startled, embarrassed, then looks away.

  CHANA: Blumeleh really? Oh, may God grant you an easy birth at a favorable hour. [goes to embrace her.]

  BLUMA: [repulsing her.] Ssh! Rav Aaron says we shouldn’t speak of it for the first three months because of the Evil Eye.

  CHANA: Do you believe everything Rav Aaron tells you?

  BLUMA: Who can I believe? You won’t even be here when I need you.

  CHANA: [sighs.] I’ve failed you. When you were born, my eldest, I had such plans; I wanted to be the perfect mother….

  BLUMA: Yes. [with irony.] You were always so busy being so perfect behind the piles of ironing, the mountains of dishes. You never had time for us. It was a factory…!

  SHEINHOFF: [cutting her off.] This is no way to speak to your mother! Besides, this is the way of our world. I’m surprised at you, Bluma!…[calling] Shaineleh! Come, take away the cups. [SHAINE RUTH enters.] Go say good-bye to your mother. She’s leaving.

  BLUMA: [to CHANA, in a whisper.] I don’t want anyone to know!

  SHAINE RUTH: [helplessly.] Good-bye, Ima.

  CHANA: [with mixed emotions.] Sit with us a moment. [to SHEINHOFF.] Is that all right? [SHEINHOFF nods her consent. CHANA sits her daughters down on either side of her by the table. SHAINE RUTH does so with enthusiasm. BLUMA with reservations. All of them are conscious of the ghosts of past family gatherings around this table. Pause. To SHAINE RUTH.] Tell me, how you are managing with the children?

  SHAINE RUTH: Both grandmothers help me. And Bluma.

  CHANA: Do they talk about me, sometimes?

  BLUMA: They are not big talkers.

  SHAINE RUTH: [joyously.] Moishele acts like a yeshiva boy, and Yitzchak’s gotten three inches taller—

  CHANA: My brilliant little Talmud scholars! And my red-headed twins, Ruchele and Faigele? For their beautiful long hair. [takes out pretty hair clips.]

  SHAINE RUTH: [slightly embarrassed.] We had to cut it short. There was no time to braid it every morning.

  CHANA: Oh, their lovely hair!

  BLUMA: Their hair will grow. They are perfectly fine.

  SHAINE RUTH: [breaking in.] Except—Eliahu has asthma.

  CHANA: [worried.] What? From when?

  BLUMA: [angry.] From when you left. But with his medicine, he’s fine.

  CHANA: [sadly.] My children…. Do they wonder…ask…about me?

  BLUMA and SHAINE RUTH exchange guilty glances.

  SHAINE RUTH: Not like they used to….

  BLUMA: Sometimes.

  SHEINHOFF: Chana, it’s time.

  CHANA: I hope that you bought Moishele and Shmuel Zanvil the bikes for their birthday. That was what they wanted before I—

  BLUMA: Out of the charity Rav Aaron collects for Aba, it’s impossible to buy such luxuries.

  CHANA: [flabbergasted.] But what about the money I sent them for their birthdays, for all your birthdays, and the money for Chanukah presents every year. Didn’t you get it? [SHAINE RUTH: indicates no. SHEINHOFF looks away.] And my letters—you read the little ones my letters, didn’t you? Bluma? Shaine Ruth? [no response. Understanding dawns.] He didn’t give them to you….

  BLUMA: Father knows what’s right.

  CHANA: I’m not surprised they don’t ask about me…

  SHEINHOFF: Chana, you have no idea what went on here. It was the price we had to pay to help the children heal. Please, go now. Quietly.

  CHANA goes toward the door. She picks up a pacifier. Music. Children’s motif. They pass by and vanish.

  CHANA: [to herself, absorbing the full impact.] Two years. Not a single letter…. not one birthday present…. nothing. [to SHEINHOFF, accusingly.] To make them think I’d forgotten them.

  Behind CHANA’s back, the WOMEN enter quietly from the kitchen.

  CHANA: You lied to me, Mameh Goldie. My children are not fine. They’re suffering. [urgently, pleading.] You must let me see them. Just for a few minutes. What harm could I do to them in just a few minutes? I will just tell them that I never stopped thinking about them and loving them, and then I’ll go. No one has to know! Please, I’m begging you, in the name of that love we’ve always felt for each other. I can’t leave this way…!

  GITTE LEAH: So we’ll leave.

  CHANA panic stricken, turns around and sees the WOMEN behind her.

  FRUME: You’re right, daughter. Come girls.

  ETA: Come Tovah, the time is short and the work is tall…long…great—

  CHANA: [shouting.] No! No one is going anywhere until I see my children!

  GITTE LEAH: Come, come. It’s time to go, girls. Let her sit here and wait for her police to come rescue her. Unlike her, I have a family waiting for me.

  SHEINHOFF: [getting up.] Adinaleh, we’ll also go. There’s nothing more we can do to help her…

  The WOMEN stand ready to leave. The musical motif of the children fades out.

  CHANA: [desperately.] Wait! Wait a minute. I have an idea. Maybe…maybe we can make some kind of deal.

  GITTE LEAH: A deal? What is this, the marketplace?

  ETA: [to TOVAH.] Vus is dus (what is this)? What does she want?

  TOVAH: To make a sale…. [shrugs.]

  SHEINHOFF: Quiet! Why is it impossible to listen and speak like human beings? Chanaleh, what are you suggesting?

  CHANA: [thinking fast.] “Deal” is not the right word. I can’t think of the right word just now…. But all of you want me to leave here quietly, true? I understand that, and I’ll go, I promise, only listen to me first. That’s all I ask.

  GITTE LEAH: That’s your deal? It’s no wonder your clothing business went bankrupt.

  FRUME: She thinks that we’re merchandise that she can buy or sell.

  Pause.

  SHEINHOFF: [concerned.] That’s what you want Chana, to talk?

  CHANA: Yes, and for all of you to listen, honestly. It’s not much. All I ever wanted in life was to be a mother. You’ve stolen the dearest wish of my soul. Don’t I at least deserve the right to change your minds? Aren’t you at least curious to know the truth?

  GITTE LEAH: Yankele told the truth to the Rabbinical Court.

  CHANA: Did you hear what he said?

  GITTE LEAH: A God-fearing woman doesn’t get mixed up men’s business.

  FRUME: My wise daughter. [to CHANA.] And the Rabbis judged you and found you guilty and gave you your divorce.

  The WOMEN continue toward the door.

  CHANA: The Rabbis never let me open my mouth. They gave me my divorce and closed the case. The men looked after their own interests. They didn’t give me justice! You—you women—can do it. Here. Now. [impulsively.] Why don’t you judge me? You put me on trial!

  FRUME is silent. CHANA has touched a nerve. Pause.

  TOVAH: Is it permissible for us to sit in judgment?

  ETA: Is it permissible for women?

  ADINA: Many things are permitted to women that we don’t allow ourselves…. It’s permissible for women to learn, and to judge. Deborah the Prophetess was the judge of all Israel.

  ETA: She knows. She is learned.

  TOVAH: [dismissively.] When you have no husband and children to take care of, what else does a woma
n have to do with herself?

  ADINA: [hurt. Pointedly.] It’s permissible for women to use their brains, Tovah, that is—if they have any. It’s not a sin. [to all.] Yes, it’s permissible for us to hear Chana and judge her. [looking around.] It’s too bad we don’t have a minyan. It would give our judgment even greater force.

  ETA: A minyan means ten men! Who ever heard of a minyan of women?!

  ADINA: It’s permissible for women to hold a minyan for secular matters!

  FRUME: [to all.] What is all this silliness? [to CHANA.] We already have the decision of the Rabbinical Court against you.

  CHANA: And another that reverses it! You respect the first, but tear up the second as worthless! [taking the plunge.] Well, I’m ready to give up both Rabbinical decisions, on condition that you yourselves judge me!

  Pause.

  GITTE LEAH: Don’t start with her. She’ll lie for hours. I know her. All Meah Shearim will be under our window, witnessing our shame. All I need is for my husband to find out. The admor’s wife in such a situation!

  Music, the SACRED OATH MOTIF. CHANA takes a Bible and stands behind the table. A halo of light surrounds her. The change from reality to ritual has begun.

  CHANA: [with self-control.] I, Chana Kashman, take a sacred oath in the name of God who is in Heaven to speak only the truth, all of it. And further…. [with great effort.] I, Chana Kashman, take an oath. in the name of God who is in Heaven to accept upon myself your verdict. [she kisses the Bible, and places it on the table.]

  General surprise. Confusion. Pause. SACRED OATH MOTIF rises.

  ADINA: She took a sacred oath. We are required to listen to her. There are things that only she—that only the woman—knows. In the Book of Samuel, Eli the Priest saw a woman in the Holy Temple acting strangely. He thought she was drunk and cursed her. But when she was allowed to explain, he understood she was simply drunk with grief at being childless. And in the end, he blessed her.

  GITTE LEAH: Because she had a good reason for her behavior. What possible reason can Chana have?

  ADINA: If we listen, maybe we’ll know….

  SHEINHOFF: [evasively.] Really, Adina. What is there to know? What is there to tell? Everything is clear. [to CHANA.] Chanaleh, you know our Torah forbids us to take oaths….

  CHANA: But under special circumstances, it’s a mitzvah. It’s an expression of our faith in the justice of God. If you believe in His justice, as I do, you must also swear as I have. Bind yourself with a sacred oath before God to listen with honesty and decide with righteousness!

  SHEINHOFF: We are all God-fearing women, who love our Creator and seek to follow His just, compassionate, and merciful ways. It’s forbidden for us to take God’s name in vain, to swear a sacred oath for some kind of game….

  CHANA: It’s not a game! It’s my life! If I am risking everything by binding myself with an oath, you have to do the same.

  GITTE LEAH: [skeptically.] What are you risking?

  CHANA: I told you: If you judge me honestly and righteously and decide I’m unworthy of ever seeing my children again, I…. [pause, conscious of the terrible risk.] I will accept your verdict.

  Pause. SACRED OATH MOTIF becomes insistent. ADINA approaches the table, picks up the Bible.

  ADINA: I, Adina Sheinhoff, Chana’s sister-in-law, accept upon myself a sacred oath to listen to Chana honestly, and to judge her righteously. [kisses Bible and returns it to table.]

  SHAINE RUTH: [running to pick up the Bible.] I, Shaine Ruth, Chana’s daughter, accept upon myself a sacred oath to listen to my mother honestly, and to judge her righteously.

  BLUMA: I, Bluma, also agree to take upon myself a sacred oath and swear to listen to mother honestly and to judge her righteously.

  ETA: It’s not a sin?

  ADINA: Only if you don’t mean it.

  ETA: [with a cautious glance at Frume, taking the Bible.] I, Eta Leibowitz, an excellent cook, accept upon myself a sacred oath to listen to Chana honestly and to decide righteously. Tovah?

  TOVAH: I also take this sacred oath upon myself to listen to Chana honestly and to decide righteously. [belatedly.] Tovah Klein, head attendant at the ritual baths in Geulah.

  SACRED OATH MOTIF reaches crescendo. Cut.

  CHANA: [taking the Bible to FRUME.] Madame Kashman.

  FRUME: Do you really trust her to leave here quietly when she loses?

  ADINA: Mrs. Kashman, the punishment for breaking her oath would be terrible!

  GITTE LEAH: You think that would stand in her way? Why, when she was little, Mother had no choice but to punish her a thousand times but still she…

  FRUME: [cutting her off.] Please. Dirty laundry you wash behind closed doors; not in the middle of the living room.

  GITTE LEAH: [loudly.] I can’t believe how you’ve all just given in to her! Such a mistake!

  ADINA: [to GITTE.] Shouting the loudest doesn’t make you the smartest.

  GITTE LEAH: [cruelly.] Maybe I shout. But at least I don’t stu…stt…ter!

  CHANA: Don’t let it bother you, Adina. If Gitte Leah doesn’t like you, it’s a good sign of your character. [to FRUME.] Madame Kashman!

  FRUME: Stop already with the “Madame Kashman!” I’m your mother! Your MOTHER!!!

  CHANA: You were never my mother. You were Gitte Leah’s mother. For me, you were always: Madame Kashman, my warden.

  GITTE LEAH: Don’t you dare speak this way to our mother, you ingrate!

  FRUME: All your childhood, all you ever did was cause me pain. Only I know the real Chana Kashman.

  CHANA: [pushing the Bible toward her insistently.] Swear!

  FRUME: [repulsing her.] All right, all right. Talk if you want. I don’t need Bibles and sacred oaths.

  GITTE LEAH: [surprised and appalled.] Mother?

  FRUME: Yes, why not? What do I have to hide? She wants to try out her lies, we’ll listen then go our way. [to CHANA.] You have my word of honor.

  CHANA: You must swear like all the others. Repeat after me: “I, Frume Kashman, accept upon myself a sacred oath to listen honestly to every word my daughter Chana says and to judge with righteousness whether she should be permitted to see her children again.”

  SACRED OATH MOTIF begins again, quietly.

  FRUME: [repeating the oath.] I, Frume Kashman accept upon myself a sacred oath to listen honestly to every word Chana says and to judge with righteousness and true justice if she should be forbidden….

  CHANA: [correcting her.] permitted.

  FRUME: [bristling with rage.] Permitted to see her children again. Oh, what foolishness…. Are you happy now?

  CHANA: All of you are my witnesses! [turns to GITTE LEAH with Bible.]

  GITTE LEAH: I don’t have to play this game.

  CHANA: For once in your life, why don’t you try to act like a sister?

  GITTE LEAH: How dare you! Who took you in when you ran away from home? I was newly married, and instead of preparing myself for life as a great scholar’s wife, I had you on my hands to deal with.

  CHANA: All right. In that case, you can prepare yourself for life in jail. [goes to the phone.]

  GITTE LEAH: [scoffingly.] You’re going to put me into jail?

  CHANA: Yes, Gitte Leah. Outside of Meah Shearim, everyone is equal under the law. And even a great scholar’s wife can go to jail if she’s convicted of kidnapping. And when you are rotting in prison, the police will bring me the children that I gave birth to and I raised!

  General panic.

  ETA and TOVAH: [stuttering, appalled. Jail? ] Sorry. We just came to borrow some vinegar. Oil. For the compote. Potato kugel.

  SHEINHOFF: This is what you want, Chana? That they be brought to you by force, in a police car? Do you want to shame and frighten them to death?

  CHANA: It’s not what I want. But what other choice is she leaving me? [she dials.] “Police?”

  GITTE LEAH: Stop it! (Takes the phone and slams it down.) Stop it already. All right. (She takes the Bible) For the good of the family, not like you, to get ri
d of the Cossacks, I, Gitte Leah, take a sacred oath to listen honestly to Chana and to decide righteously. (Kisses the Bible and lays it down.) And after the humiliations you’ve put us through—your own sister. your own mother!—don’t dream of crawling back to us for help when you finally land where you deserve—in the gutter.