Women's Minyan

W
omen’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

T
he 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

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.

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