Letter: Draw on example of Jewish heroines

Amelia Earhart, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Blackwell: What do these significant women have in common? They charted new courses creating new opportunities and rights for women.

Now for a Jewish question: Rachel, Abigail, Esther. What do these extraordinary biblical women have in common? They each changed the course of Jewish history in one moment, exemplifying the power of women fulfilling our responsibilities. And while governments should absolutely be preoccupied with civil rights, Jewish spirituality is about fulfilling our responsibilities and obligations.

Rachel of the Bible was willing to give up marrying the love of her life to avoid an unspeakable pain and embarrassment to her sister. Abigail bravely rebuked a king to restore and maintain his dignity, along with the rest of the Jewish nation. Esther longed to return to her people, and yet chose to direct her fate to remain forever in a foreign environment to prevent mass genocide.

While rights and responsibilities are not always mutually exclusive, the irony is that the truest, deepest happiness often comes not from chasing our entitlements, but from fulfilling our obligations. Especially when Israel is dependent not only on its soldiers, but on the spiritual warfare of the Jewish people, we women intuitively know, especially in these times of crisis, that our greatest power lies not in serving the self, but in serving God's desires and others' needs.

Each in his or her own way can do this — cooking a hot meal for a neighbor who could use the love; being patient with a difficult family member; participating in the women’s Challah for Freedom event this season at The Colony Hotel; maybe even setting aside time to study about these biblical women and how they relate to us on this very day.

There is so much. We only need to look for the opportunity and then make it happen.

Hindel Levitin

Palm Beach

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Letter: Jewish heroines have much to teach, inspire us