Elisa
Klapheck and Lara Dämmig
Horizons
[German]
The Haggada
says it is praiseworthy for a parent to tell their children about the flight
from Egypt. The youngest child questions. The parents answer. Jewish experience
is passed from generation to generation -– Ledor Vador.
We are both,
by choice until now, single and childless. Doesn’t it seem a bit odd that we, of
all people, would organise a conference on the topic of the “The Jewish Family”?
But we too,
belong to the Jewish family, and even though we do not have kids, we are still a
link between the generations! We too have a place at the Seder table. And we
have questions and answers.
The
celebration of Passover does more than unite the nuclear family. Friends,
relatives and even the needy, have always been invited. At the ritual on the
evening of the Seder, the community extends beyond the bounds of the biological
tribe. Even the institution of the minyan demands the responsibility for the
whole community.
Is being
Jewish really as family oriented as myth would have it? The communities will
only have a future when they begin to credit the realities of society today.
Even in the past, they reacted to changes in the family by, for example, setting
up kindergartens and homes for the elderly. In that sense, the development of
the family is by no means a private affair.
To whom are
our demands addressed? Who is the community?
We are! That
is what obliges us to introduce our initiatives. We should shed our perception
that we exist in a niche for outsiders just as we have said farewell to
experience of being painted into stereotyped images of Jewish women.
Let us not be
intimidated by existing structures! And let us learn from the generations that
have gone before us. The contributions of the generation of our mothers shows
that they certainly had something to tell us and that they opened new horizons
in the context of Jewish life at that time. We must also include issues to
stimulate coming generations and allow them to develop their own standpoints.
That means,
too, that we cannot remain daughters and sons forever. We must go beyond being
“only” the second generation, meaning that we are the descendants of those who
experienced the Shoah. We must at some point become the “first generation
after”.
As this
generation, we have the right to introduce something new. We have the right to
question roles for women, family models, and power relationships. We can
certainly learn a great deal from the experiences of American feminists. But
different historical reference points in Europe force us to find our own way by
ourselves and for ourselves.
Ledor
Vador – al jisrael –
ve’al rabbaniot – ve’al talmidotehen – ve’al kol talmidot talmidotehen ...
all those who learn and teach, here and everywhere, give them the ability to
hear people, allow diverse opinions, have confidence in themselves and to
develop the courage to make their own goals in to reality.
Elisa
Klapheck and Lara Dämmig are initiators of Bet Debora.
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