Shedding Light on Women in Judaism : Hanukkah: Jewish feminists are seeking to emphasize the forgotten tales of courage and faith of females in Rabbinic legend.

According to Rabbinic legend, 2,000 years ago a woman was forced to watch as her seven sons were tortured and killed because they would not give up their religion. Afterward, she, too, was killed.

The story of Hanna and her sons is rarely discussed in Judaism. But Jewish feminists are hoping that her story, along with many others recounting the faith and courage of women, can be brought to light, especially during Hanukkah, the eight-day Festival of Lights that begins tonight.

Hanukkah, which means rededication , celebrates the overcoming of religious persecution by the Jewish people. But in the traditional telling of the story of Hanukkah, the roles of women such as Hanna have been forgotten.

In the most well-known Hanukkah story, the Jews, led by Judas Maccabaeus, recapture the temple in Jerusalem from the Syrians. The Jewish army finds a flask of oil in the Temple only sufficient to keep the Eternal Light burning for one day, and miraculously, the oil lasts for eight days until the supply can be replenished. The Jewish people light eight lights in commemoration of the miracle.

But there are many other rarely told Hanukkah stories and themes in which women are the central focus. Rabbi Naomi Levy, who teaches a class on the feminist perspective of Hanukkah, says that Hanna can be compared to Abraham, father of the Jewish people, although her sacrifice was greater than his.

“Hanna tells her youngest son before he is murdered that Abraham shouldn’t be so proud of himself that he almost sacrificed Isaac,” said Levy, a conservative rabbi of Temple Mishkon Tephilo in Venice. “She says: ‘I sacrificed seven of my sons for God.’ ”

In re-creating Hanukkah from a women’s perspective, Rabbis Laura Geller and Sue Levi Elwell, co-founders of the Commission on Women’s Rights/Jewish Feminist Center in Los Angeles, incorporate ancient Jewish traditions and stories lost through the centuries.

“Hanukkah is a holiday that gives hope to the invisible, to people who feel small,” Levy said during a recent interview. “Women have felt unnoticed, they have been the silent partners in history. Hanukkah is about how the small can overwhelm the many. That kind of message gives hope to everyone and anyone who can understand what it means.”

During Hanukkah, one of the eight branches of the menorah is lit every night until all are lit on the eighth night. The central candle, or shamas , is used to light all the rest.

In recognizing women’s connection to light, Geller says, Hanukkah can again be understood from a woman’s perspective.

“Ours is a tradition where women’s stories have not been told,” Geller said. “During Hanukkah, we light candles with the intention of bringing to light stories that are part of (women’s) stories.”

Hanukkah is traditionally a more egalitarian holiday, Levy said, because women throughout the centuries have been considered the “keepers of the light.” Women are commanded to light the Shabbat candles on Friday nights, and many women throughout the Bible are referred to as bringers of light or flame.

“The Hanukkah story is about fighting darkness,” Geller said. “We create our own light to dispel the darkness. We take the holiday and relate it to issues as Jewish men and women who relate to dark times and the need for light.”

Geller and Elwell will hold a Hanukkah ceremony recognizing the women whose names appear at the end of Genesis and the beginning of Exodus but who have been forgotten. The ceremony Monday night will be held in conjunction with the center’s monthly Rosh Hodesh celebration, which welcomes in the new moon.

The rabbis will light candles and chant the names of some of those forgotten women, such as the midwives Shiphrah and Puah who saved Moses from death, Moses’ mother, Moses’ sister Miriam and Pharaoh’s daughter. “We recognize the strong women of the Moses story,” Elwell said.

The ceremony is open to the public, and will be held at Temple Mishkon Tephilo.

Elwell says that the center has received a positive response from all sectors of the Jewish community. But not all agree with the necessity of a center for Jewish women.

“The Bible is extremely pro-women. I don’t see the need to make a feminist center to prove it,” said Orthodox Rabbi Nacham Braverman of Aish HaTorah, a Jewish study center in Los Angeles. “Women have a more private role, but that doesn’t make it less important.”

But Elwell said the Jewish Feminist Center, the only institution of its kind in the country, is an important step for Jewish women. It is striving to create “an inclusive Judaism, where women stand in the center equally with men, to find where the women in the stories are,” said Elwell, center director.

It is possible to bring a feminist perspective to all Jewish holidays without taking away their authenticity and integrity, Elwell said, adding that giving Jewish holidays a more egalitarian focus enables children to grow up with a broader perspective.

“In the past, when girls wanted to be leaders their only models were men. When men wanted to be nurturers they had no male models,” Elwell said. “We want to get rid of stereotypes, to see how complex human beings really are. That’s what the center is all about. It exists to enable both individuals and institutions to see how much richer Judaism will be when men’s stories are integrated into a greater story, with women’s lives and experiences.”

The nonprofit outreach organization was founded two years ago. Geller, 42, and Elwell, 44, both Reform rabbis, had been colleagues through the rabbinate, and both had been active in Jewish women’s activities and in creating the Jewish feminist movement. When Elwell moved to Los Angeles after completing her rabbinical training, they were able to bring their visions together, said Elwell, who also has a Ph.D. in adult education.

Occupying a suite of offices in the Jewish Community building in Los Angeles, the center is part of the American Jewish Congress, said Geller, who is executive director of the American Jewish Congress Pacific Southwest Region.

The center offers classes for adults on women’s history in Judaism, as well as the study of texts through the lens of women’s experience. It has also been instrumental in instituting women’s history classes in Jewish day schools and at the University of Judaism in West Los Angeles, and has recently formed a coalition with the Muslim Women’s League to protest ethnic cleansing.

Members of the American Jewish Congress are automatically members of the Jewish Feminist Center. All events are open to the public.

For more information about programs at the Jewish Feminist Center, including the Hanukkah celebration, call (213) 651-4601.