Women's Minyan

by Naomi Ragen

  Women’s Minyan

  Also by Naomi Ragen

  NOVELS

  The Sacrifice of Tamar

  Jephte’s Daughter

  Sotah

  The Ghost of Hannah Mendes

  Chains Around the Grass

  The Covenant

  Naomi Ragen

  WOMEN’S MINYAN

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Text copyright © 2006 Naomi Ragen

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

  Published by AmazonEncore

  P.O. Box 400818

  Las Vegas, NV 89140

  ISBN: 978-1-61218-126-4

  for Rachel Schapira

  Contents

  Foreword

  Author’s Preface

  Author’s Notes on the Characters

  Prologue

  Act I

  Scene one

  Scene two

  Scene three

  Scene four

  Scene five

  Act II

  Prologue

  Scene one

  Scene two

  Scene three

  Scene four

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Foreword

  Women’s Minyan was inspired by the true life story of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish woman in Jerusalem who was forcibly separated from her twelve children by a vengeful ex-husband and a complacent and corrupt social and judicial system. When Women’s Minyan premiered, this woman hadn’t seen her children for five years. It has now been ten years. While her case has been taken to Israel’s Supreme Court, it is doubtful she will ever see them again in her lifetime.

  Her story is not unique to her, nor to ultra-Orthodox Judaism. The pattern of abuse towards women emanating from the fundamentalist religious sects of all religions—all of whom profess to serve a just and compassionate God—is frighteningly similar all over the world. The solution will come when women, particularly religious women, refuse to accept these abuses against their sisters, standing together to change the world, looking to the true God for their inspiration and their courage.—NR

  Author’s Preface

  The play Women’s Minyan takes place in the contemporary world of haredim or ultra-Orthodox Jews, who are themselves subdivided into many warring groups and sects. The literal meaning of haredi is: “One who quakes with fear of God.” Dress and behavior in the haredi world are severely circumscribed by stringent laws and customs for both men and women, whose lives are centered around prayer, and the study of Talmud in yeshiva. It is a patriarchal society in which women’s place is clearly delineated. Women marry in their late teens in arranged marriages. Birth control is frowned upon and large families the norm. Twelve children are not unusual. Women work outside the home to support the family so as to allow their husbands to continue as full-time Talmud students. This is considered a woman’s achievement and her honor. The dress code for women is unbending in its adherence to modesty. All the characters are dressed in high-necked, long sleeved, mid-calf clothing, with slight variations that reveal status and character. All married women hide their hair under headcoverings that range from a simple scarf, to an elaborate pointed turban, or wig. The type and quality of headcovering reveals their status.

  Except for Zehava who is Sephardi, i.e. a Jew of North African or Middle Eastern origin, all the women are Ashkenazim—Jews of Eastern European ancestry. In the haredi world, Sephardim are considered to be of inferior social status.

  Frume Kashman is both an enforcer and a victim of a social system in which religion is used to grind down a person’s sense of self-worth, leaving them open to manipulation and recruitment into the faceless ranks of unquestioning followers, who don’t dare question their charismatic leaders. She is a person who has abdicated her moral responsibility to judge right from wrong. At times, this leads her to truly evil deeds.

  Tovah Klein works at the ritual baths, mikvah, a place where women are required to perform a monthly ablution seven days after the completion of their menstrual period, and before being allowed to resume relations with their husband. The taboo against sexual relations during this time period is severe, the punishment for trangression amounting to one’s being cut off from God and the Jewish people. She is a sternly pious woman whose job it is to check over women’s bodies—to see if they’ve cut their nails short enough, scrubbed their skin hard enough, taken off all make-up and jewelry—before allowing them to immerse in the waters. Most of her time is spent determining if everyone conforms to the written and unwritten rules of the ultra-Orthodox world, which will allow them to remain members in good standing of the community. Women like her rule with an iron hand, and a wagging tongue.

  The opening lines spoken by MALE VOICE are a verbatim quotation from a contemporary book of Jewish law. The term minyan literally means a quorum of ten men, which is considered the smallest number comprising a congregation which has the authority to hold public prayer services, and decide other communal acts. The title, Women’s Minyan, is meant to be ironic and defiant, because women have no status or authority in the public sphere in the ultra-Orthodox, haredi, world. Women cannot constitute a minyan.

  DIRECTORS PLEASE NOTE: The men in this play must never, under any circumstances, be visible to the audience in any way. Their invisibility is extremely important both symbolically and dramatically. They permeate a haredi woman’s life even when they are not physically present, and the hurtful epitaphs they sling lead to emotional overload and a fatal refocusing of the play when they appear on stage in any way.

  Further note: the male voice of authority at the beginning must never be confused with the subsequent male voices who hurl insults at Chana. The former is the voice of the Rabbi, the latter the voice of the street hoodlums.

  Yiddish terms are followed in brackets by their English translations. Some Yiddish terms will be familiar to English-speaking audiences, as such terms as meshugah and chutzpah, which have become part of American speech. Others may be less familiar. The director is free to choose among them, or use the English translation. It is suggested that the term Ima, meaning mother, be used throughout by Bluma and Shaine Ruth when they address or refer to their mother.

  —NR

  CAST

  CHANA SHEINHOFF

  SHAINE RUTH

  BLUMA

  GOLDIE SHEINHOFF

  ADINA SHEINHOFF

  FRUME KASHMAN

  GITTE LEAH KASHMAN

  ETA LEIBOWITZ

  TOVAH KLEIN

  ZEHAVA TOLEDANO

  TWO YOUNG GIRLS, under the age of ten

  Women’s Minyan was first performed by Israel’s National Theater, Habimah, at the Rovina Theater, on July 4, 2002. It was directed by Noya Lancet, Miriam Yachil-Wax was the consulting dramaturge; it was designed by Frida Klapholtz-Avrahami. The American premiere was October 15, 2005, at the Reynolds Theater, Duke University, produced by Theater Or and Streetsigns Center for Literature and Performance.

  ORIGINAL CAST, HABIMAH, JULY 2002.

  CHANA SHEINHOFF

  Davit Gavish

  SHAINE RUTH

  Tal Tsidkony

  BLUMA

  Inbal Shoham

  GOLDIE SHEINHOFF

  Liat Goren

  ADINA SHEINHOFF

  Lilach Caspi

  FRUME KASHMAN

  Dina Doronne

  GITTE LEAH KASHMAN

  Orna Rothberg

  ETA LEIBOWITZ<
br />
  Ruti Landau

  TOVAH KLEIN

  Revital Snir

  ZEHAVA TOLEDANO

  Dafna Armony

  VOICE OVER NARRATION

  Dov Reiser

  Author’s Notes on the Characters

  NOTE ABOUT CLOTHING: The following are brief descriptions, not meant to be inclusive. The designer should read the rules of modest dress which open the play, and should study photographs of women in haredi neighborhoods to get a true feel for the dress code.

  CHANA SHEINHOFF, (born Kashman) 43, mother of twelve. Imposing, queen-like, exuding a nun-like serenity and a fierce determination. Dressed simply but attractively, with a headscarf that covers all her hair.

  SHAINE RUTH, 17, CHANA’s second eldest daughter. A pretty blonde girl with carefully braided, long hair. She is dressed in a plain, ankle-length jumper of a solid dark color with a high-necked, long-sleeved shirt, or an equally plain, modest blouse and long skirt, also of solid color.

  BLUMA, 19, CHANA’s eldest daughter. Slim and pretty, she wears clothes that seem matronly, and her carefully coifed wig proclaims her status as a married woman.

  GOLDIE SHEINHOFF, 69, CHANA’s mother-in-law, highly respected widow of a great Torah scholar. Stooped, with a gray wig, she exudes great moral power and authority.

  ADINA SHEINHOFF, 33, CHANA’s sister-in-law, and GOLDIE SHEINHOFF’s only daughter. ADINA is fragile, shy, like a wounded sparrow, belying her fierce intelligence. She has a slight stutter. She is dressed in clothes that hide her attractive figure completely. Her hair is cut short in a no-nonsense style and left completely uncovered to show her unmarried status, a stigma at her age.

  FRUME KASHMAN, 63, CHANA’s mother. A harsh, angular woman, she wears a severe version of the traditional headscarf that covers all her hair. She walks with a cane.

  GITTE LEAH KASHMAN, 45, CHANA’s older sister. Overweight, self-important, the wife of an ADMOR—an acronym that translated means: “our lord, our teacher, our rabbi”—an honorific assumed by members of the rabbinic community wishing to separate themselves from their less successful, or less ambitious, peers. She wears the traditional pointed turban, called a schpitz, to denote her status. Her clothes are modest, but flashier than the others.

  ETA LEIBOWITZ, 38, CHANA’s neighbor and former advisee. She is heavy, slow, with a head scarf that seems to squeeze her face and thrust it forward. She speaks with a heavy Yiddish accent.

  TOVAH KLEIN, 42, CHANA’s former friend. Thin, in a long shapeless dress with a head scarf, big glasses and no make-up. She is the woman’s attendant at the ritual baths, mikvah.

  ZEHAVA TOLEDANO, 40, CHANA’s friend, a divorcee. A large, poor Sephardic woman, dressed in inexpensive, well-worn clothes, her hair covered with the long snood favored by Sephardic haredi women. Her clothing denotes a lower socio-economic status than the others. She is strong-minded, loyal, independent, and proud.

  TWO YOUNG GIRLS, under the age of ten, who play the ghost children. They are dressed all in white—long-sleeved, high collared white dresses, white tights, white shoes.

  The Place

  PROLOGUE—An empty stage, ten chairs.

  ACT ONE—The interior of the Sheinhoff home in Jerusalem, a living room.

  INTERMISSION

  ACT TWO—Same interior transformed into a magic Circle of Judgment.

  EPILOGUE—The streets of ultra-Orthodox Meah Shearim in Jerusalem.

  The Time

  PROLOGUE—2001

  ACT ONE—Morning, two years later

  ACT TWO—Later the same day

  EPILOGUE—Evening, the same day

  Prologue

  AT RISE:

  An empty stage. Down stage a row of twelve plain, high–backed, empty wooden chairs. On each rests the folded clothing of a haredi woman or girl. One by one, the actors enter in their normal street clothes—jeans, leather jackets, low cut dresses etc. Each stands behind a chair.

  MAN’S VOICE: [deep, authoritative and demanding.] “In the merit of saintly women were the generation enslaved in Egypt redeemed. As in the first redemption, so will it be in the final redemption, which will come about because of the saintliness of women. Therefore women must be modest…and refuse to follow the temptations of fashion as practiced by the gentiles. True happiness, eternal happiness, can be found in the exercise of modesty. Because in every moment that she is dressed modestly, a woman performs a good deed according to the spirit of the Torah, bringing endless happiness and good to themselves and their families, a good that benefits the entire world. With the power of their modesty, modest women influence the rest of the women in the world, bringing down a spirit of purity and good behavior.

  As the MAN’S VOICE speaks, the actors begin to remove their clothing (underneath are bodysuits) as if hearkening to the male directives.

  MAN’S VOICE: The laws of modesty. The laws of modest dress are not simply a matter of personal choice, but specific, detailed laws stated clearly in the Code of Jewish Law.

  MODESTY: a woman shall not wear man’s clothing. She must not wear anything flashy or loud, like clothes with embroidery, or sequins, or big flowers in the front or back, or clothing with appliqués, wording, and so forth. Clothing that is form-fitting is absolutely forbidden, and it is simple and plain to any person with sense that this is the biggest stumbling block to modest dress. She shall wear no bright colors. Red is the color of licentiousness, and licentiousness brings sin. Denim clothing and sneakers are not fit to be worn by those seeking modesty.

  The ACTORS take the haredi clothing from the chair and begin to dress in accordance with the instructions read by man’s voice. They do this modestly, no flesh showing. If they remove trousers, it is only after they have put a skirt on top of it.

  MAN’S VOICE: The Law of Covering: the law of covering the body has as its purpose to hide the flesh from foreign eyes. Clothing made from lace or transparent in any part, does not constitute lawful covering—and this is the problem with white shirts, almost all of which are see-through, and so you must wear another garment underneath. Little girls must be educated to this from the earliest age. From the age of three, it is absolutely forbidden for them to show their bodies.

  And these are the particulars of the laws: The Sleeves:

  The ACTORS finish putting on their outfits. They raise up their arms, checking the sleeves according to the text as it is read.

  MAN’S VOICE: The strict interpretation of the law requires that the arms be covered until the palm of the hand, and this is praiseworthy. However, those who wish to be lenient may permit the arm to be covered until beneath the elbow. But in any case, the elbow must be covered. And this is why one should not wear clothing with wide sleeves that might reveal the elbow—even accidentally—when the hands are raised up.

  The Neck—

  ACTORS feel the sides of their necks as instructed.

  MAN’S VOICE: It is permitted to see the neck. The boundaries of the neck are: The sides—from the place where the neck descends into the shoulder—this must be covered. The front: from the collarbone and down, it must be covered. The back: from the first vertebra of the spine, it must be covered. There are those whose custom it is to wear only a buttoned-up collar. Failure to button the collar is very commonplace, and one must be on guard, paying careful attention to where the first button on a blouse is located, as well as to the width of the opening in sweaters and collarless dresses.

  Stockings:

  ACTORS put on stockings.

  MAN’S VOICE: The wearing of stockings is mandatory. Our sages have written at length about the obligation to cover the leg from the knee to the bottom of the foot. And for those who observe stringently, the wearing of thin, transparent stockings does not fulfill this obligation. The wearing of transparent stockings or fishnet stockings is forbidden. One must wear stockings through which the flesh cannot be easily discerned. One should not wear knee-socks, because this might lead to revealing a place which is forbidden to reveal. Stockings with bold
patterns and bright colors should not be worn by the modest, because they attract the eye. It is forbidden to go without stockings even in one’s own home.

  The ACTORS, now fully dressed in ultra-Orthodox clothes, check the length of their dresses.

  MAN’S VOICE: The length of the dress. The knee must be covered in all events, whether sitting or standing. And the sages of our generation have already ruled that a dress must fall no less than ten centimeters below the knee, because if a dress falls just below the knee while standing, when one sits it is sure to ride up and reveal forbidden places. And this is a terrible sin recognized by all. And certain kinds of material which are likely to ride up even further when sitting, must be compensated for by lengthening them still further, so that the knee will not be revealed under any circumstances. It is mandatory to check how much every piece of clothing rides up when one sits down, in order to calculate the minimum length of the garment necessary to cover the knee. And those that go beyond the law and lengthen their skirts still further, this is praiseworthy.