Spiritual Literacy: Reading the Sacred in Everyday Life Page #2

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Must I make this sacrifice?

- You are part of our struggle.

Our struggle is sacred.

My son,

I just ran into Rivka.

What is she doing?

Why does she no longer work?

This cannot go on, Meir.

I went to the ritual bath today.

Yes.

I am no longer unclean.

I'm exhausted, Rivka.

I had a hard day.

I want to sleep.

Do you think we don't

have the right to?

Yes.

If we don't try,

how can we have a child?

It's been 1 0 years, Rivka.

We'll never have a child.

We can still try.

Sterility is the cause.

There's no escaping it.

And our bond?

Isn't it a sacred commandment?

Please Rivka, that's enough.

What do you want from me? Tell me.

I haven't studied for 1 0 years.

I was a brilliant student

before our marriage.

I was the first to recognize

any passage from the Talmud.

And now, Rivka,

what can I do?

Tell me what I should do?

Let me prove to you

that God blesses our union,

that we were made

for each other, Meir.

I don't know.

Do you know what people say?

They say I'm getting married

next week.

To Yossef.

That's what they say.

To Yossef.

I'm marrying Yossef.

That's what they say.

You know what?

I'm a good girl, right?

True, I don't like

cooking and cleaning,

I'll study accounting, like you.

That way I'll be able

to support my family.

My husband can study.

Then...

I'll shave my head

and I'll spend my whole life

pregnant.

I'll give myself to Yakov

before the wedding,

Yossef will see that I'm not

a virgin and repudiate me.

You'll help me, won't you?

Tell me about it.

Tell me what it's like.

What does making love feel like?

Your wedding night with Meir.

Tell me.

You never told me about it.

On the night of the wedding

I found myself in this room.

He took off my dress,

then he took off his black coat.

We lay down on the bed,

he took off his black shoes.

He was wearing socks.

He took off his white shirt.

After he took off his shirt,

he hesitated...

before removing the tsitsit.

He didn't know the law

concerning them.

He finally removed them.

Then he took off his pants.

Then...

Around his hips, he wore that belt

which divides the spiritual

from the material world.

He undid it.

Then he turned off the light.

He honored me.

He entered me by the ways of love,

the ways of consent.

It was the first time.

It will be like that

for you too, Malka.

No, it won't.

"You always say it's so hard for you.

"The tears on your pillow

have long been dry.

"You sit at home doing nothing.

"You never come back to me.

"Why are you running from me?

"Why are you pushing me away?

"Take your time if you're scared.

"We'll meet again in another world.

"I'll find you in that other world."

Look how beautiful it is.

You'll make a beautiful bride.

A beautiful bride.

I'll try it on.

Rivka, hold this a second.

How are you feeling?

Better?

Meir worries me.

He's been distant lately.

He avoids my questions.

When I ask what's wrong,

he doesn't answer.

But I love him.

And at night?

He says we don't have the right.

I want to see you.

A man is obliged to satisfy his wife.

If he doesn't,

she has grounds for divorce.

I received a letter a few days ago.

It said that a woman

without a child

is no better than dead.

Who would send such a thing?

I don't know.

I asked Meir.

Sometimes I feel my problem

isn't sterility,

but shame.

It's in her eyes.

Mother is ashamed of me.

Even Meir is ashamed of me.

What did Meir say about the letter?

That is was copied from the Talmud.

The Talmud, the Talmud, Rivka.

Women don't study the Talmud.

Father said the Talmud contains

everything and its opposite.

No woman dares say it

but men don't want us to know.

That way they can do

what they like with us.

Iook at the laws of menstruation.

They're forbidden to touch us.

We make everything impure.

We can't even hand them a cup.

Is all that in the Talmud?

What are you saying?

What's come over you?

I believe in this law,

and so do you.

Really? And do you also think

that woman is fickle

and her heart inconstant?

Why is the Torah forbidden to us?

I mean I would like to carry it.

I'd like to stand in the synagogue

and take it in my hands

like a man.

You're crazy!

Look at the others.

They live differently.

They watch television,

listen to the radio.

Look at them when they

drive by.

The women wear short sleeves.

They can laugh, they can drive.

Once a woman with bare arms

walked by.

The Hassidim threw stones at her.

You think we're living normal lives?

You say that,

but you'll never leave us.

"On the mounts of Judah

and in the streets of Jerusalem,

"will soon be heard

shouts of joy and elation,

"the voice of the bridegroom

and his bride.

"Enter in peace.

"Be the crown of your husband.

"Enter in joy and elation.

"You have shown faith

"and your people have been chosen.

"Enter, bride, enter.

"Blessed God who has created the

fruit of the vine."

The mother presents the cup

to the bride.

"If I forget you Jerusalem,

let my right hand be taken.

"Let my tongue stick to the

roof of my mouth if I forget you.

"If I hold not Jerusalem

as my greatest joy."

I like the way you sit and walk.

Your hair ripples like

waves in the sea.

Hello, how are you?

Anything new?

Rivka has arrived.

You can go in.

Rabbi Moshe Levi Steinberg

says on page 24 of his book

"The Laws of Women"

that artificial insemination

is strictly forbidden.

After insemination,

a wife is forbidden to her husband.

Do you do as you must with your

husband? Are your legs wide open?

You're a beautiful woman.

But you must excite him,

attract him.

Does he touch you? Lick you?

God forbid! Doctor!

I know that the Orthodox position is

man on top

and woman at the bottom

but we can try new things.

Did you do it while

ovulating?

Do you know what that means?

Undress.

There are some pleasant surprises.

We women are not always at fault.

Science and medicine

can sometimes help

and better than any amulet.

Surprising as it may seem,

it can be the man who is sterile.

That's the good news, Rivka.

But will it be any help?

All the tests show that

you can have children.

Maybe its time

we call in your husband.

Meir? He won't come.

What he should do is have

his sperm analyzed.

I know it's forbidden.

"Thou shall not spill

thy seed in vain"

Two,

three...

four,

five,

six,

seven,

eight,

nine,

ten,

eleven,

twelve.

Like the twelve tribes of Israel.

I noticed a spot on

my underpants.

but it's not my period.

What did you do?

I showed the rabbi's wife.

You showed your underpants

to the Rabbi's wife?

Yes.

And what did she say?

She said...

that it didn't mean anything.

It was just a plain old spot.

She was right.

Are you unclean?

She told me to make a wish.

to put a cloth up my vagina

and to wait for 3 stars

to appear.

If there's blood, I'm unclean.

And?

There was blood.

Did you tell Yossef?

No.

My Jewish brethren,

tonight at 8:
00

we will be gathering at the

Pazner Yeshiva

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