Women’s Megillah reading plants green shoots

JORDAN MOSHE

Halachically, the Megillah can be read for the congregation in any language so it can be understood, says Rabbi Gabi Bookatz of Waverley Shul. “The shulchan aruch [code of Jewish law] says that if a Megillah was written in a foreign language, like English, on roper parchment in the correct ink and translated accurately, one would fulfil the mitzvah [commandment] of Megillah,” he says.

Since the reading publicises the miracle (a central part of Purim observance), linguistic understanding of what is being said is essential to grasping the day’s significance.

The halacha is also clear that there’s nothing wrong with women reading the Megillah.

“Setting aside the political controversy around such readings and association with the feminist movement, it’s permitted for women to read, and there’s definitely room for it halachically,” says Bookatz. This is because women were included in the miracle of Purim.

Several halachic authorities have ruled that women aren’t only required to hear the Megillah, but can read in public for other women, thereby fulfilling their obligation. Women around the world have readings for a female audience, even in South Africa.

For the past eight years, women have been involved in the governance of Greenside Shul, and, where halachically possible, have taken on a ritual role. This includes a women’s only Megillah reading, organised by respected architect Nina Cohen and Adina Roth, a psychologist and Torah educator.

“The story of Purim has as its centre a female hero, Esther, and because women were involved in the miracle of Purim, we are commanded, like men, to hear the Megillah,” says Roth. “Hearing the Megillah is a mitzvah that women can really engage in. It makes the chag [Jewish holiday] more meaningful.

“Women reading from the Megillah in a women’s only setting completely complies with Jewish law, and is hardly controversial in modern Orthodox communities.”

In 2005, Roth and a group of other women divided the Megillah up among themselves and studied the laws of reading. Since then, they have been holding an annual women’s Megillah reading, starting the practice at Greenside three years ago.

“We first set up in a side room in the shul,” Cohen says. “So many women came that the room was packed to overflowing.

“The Megillah was brought to life. It was like being in a dramatic opera. For the first time, I actually understood the meaning of the words. The drama of the story of Esther, our heroine, was so poignant when read by these brave women, who were also prepared to stand up and make history.”

The Greenside community has been supportive of the endeavour, with its rabbi, Mendel Rabinowitz, researching all the necessary halachic precedents. Cohen says that after Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the reading is possibly one of the best attended events at the shul.

A similar annual reading takes place in Cape Town as well as other international locations.