Feminine Faith - L'Hovin Inyan Rosh Chodesh

A Chasidic discourse by Rabbi Shmuel Schneerson, the Rebbe Maharash

Feminine Faith turns from a mitzva which is done by men to one celebrated primarily by women—Rosh Chodesh, the celebration of the New Moon in which women alone rejoice by refraining from normal work.

The Rebbe’s profound text explores the unique gifts of the feminine—its connection to the undivided essence of G-d’s reality in a way that transcends the masculine drive for mastery and control of nature’s cause and effect. Just as boys learn the Bar Mitzva discourse, girls approaching bat-mitzvah may like the challenge of studying this and exploring the deep chasidic ideas that touch on their own unique identity as they reach the age of mitzvot.

This discourse is a powerful meditation on the importance of the intuitive and the holistic and a sharp critique of the kind of mind that reduces the world and people to machines—the kind of mind that took power in the years after this was written and brought untold misery to millions, and to Jews especially.