By Ilana Schreiber

Mother’s Day is celebrated each year in the United States on the second Sunday of the month. Hallmark reports that nearly 96% of consumers in the United States take part in spending on Mother’s day, and the National Retail Foundation reflects that  Mother’s Day is a $14 Billion industry.  Though many have come to refer to this largely commercialized holiday as a “Hallmark Holiday,” it was not, in fact invented by the greeting card gurus in an effort to boost consumer spending.  In contrast, the holiday was derived from the intentions of tribute, honor, and women’s activism for peace, and engenders a history of battle against commercialism from the start.

Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis’ work with women’s organizations in Virginia created the first sparks toward the establishment of Mother’s Day as a national holiday in the United States. In the mid 1800’s, Jarvis organized a series of Mothers’ Day Work Clubs, with the goal of improving health and sanitary conditions within communities. During the Civil War, Jarvis urged the clubs to focus on providing relief and care to both Union and Confederate soldiers, with a stance of neutrality. The clubs treated the wounded and regularly fed and clothed soldiers stationed in the area. Jarvis also succeeded in maintaining a thread of peace and reconciliation in a community being torn apart by political differences. In the summer of 1865, Ann Jarvis organized a Mothers’ Friendship Day at the courthouse in her hometown. Her mission was to bring together soldiers and neighbors of all political beliefs. Though many feared that the day would erupt in violence, the event triumphed and Mother’s Friendship Day became an annual event for a few more years.

In 1872, inspired by her desire for peace and her search for a means of women’s expression, Julia Ward Howe began proclaiming that June 2 every year would be “Mother’s Day for Peace.” Howe, who wrote the words to the Battle Hymn of the Republic, put forward the idea of a Mother’s Day as a day dedicated to peace in the spirit of women’s activism, and though her day was never adopted at the congressional or presidential level, the holiday was informally adopted and celebrated in many cities and towns by 1873, and continued to be celebrated in some parts of the country until the early 1900’s.

In 1905 when Ann Jarvis died, her daughter, Anna, decided to pay tribute to all of her mother’s work and accomplishments. Anna stopped working and fully dedicated herself to the creation of Mother’s Day, tirelessly petitioning a wide span of institutions and organizations, business leaders, women’s groups, churches and state and federal governments, including Presidents Taft and Roosevelt. In 1907, Anna Jarvis held a ceremony to honor her mother in Grafton, West Virginia, and included white carnations, her mother’s favorite flower, in the ceremony. When word spread, federal officials were soon sporting white carnations on Mother’s Day, after the House of Representatives adopted a resolution requiring them to do so. By 1912, Mother’s day had become an officially recognized holiday in West Virginia, and two years later, in 1914, Anna’s hard work met with success when President Woodrow Wilson signed it into national observance, declaring the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.

Initially, the celebrations of Mother’s Day involved people attending church and writing letters to their mothers. After some time, people began celebrating by sending cards, presents and flowers. Anna Jarvis became angered at the commercialization of the holiday, believing that the sentiment of Mother’s Day was being sacrificed for profit and greed. In 1928 she filed a lawsuit to stop a Mother’s Day event, and she was later arrested for disturbing the peace at a mother’s convention where white carnations were being sold. In the 1930’s Anna also petitioned against a newly released postage stamp, which displayed her Mother, a vase of white carnations, and the word “Mother’s Day.” Though she was successful in having the words “Mother’s Day” removed, the flowers remained. In 1938, Time Magazine featured Anna’s battle to copyright Mother’s Day, but by then, the commercial trend had prevailed.

So, however we choose to celebrate Mother’s Day this year, let us all take some time to remember and honor the many women who stood for peace and tradition before us, without whose lives and dedication could we be celebrating today.

 
Mothers’ Day: Its History, Origin, Celebration, Spirit And Significance, As Related In Prose And Verse

By Ilana Shreiber

May is a month of rebirth. Here in the northeast, April showers will soon give way to colorful sprigs of flowers, and the familiar tunes of the ice cream truck can already be heard competing with the sounds of children shouting and laughing with excitement as they chase it down the street. In the northern hemisphere, we mark this month with a nod to the Greco-Roman earth goddess Maia (or Maya). In Classical mythology, Maia is defined as Maker, and she has been attributed to the cause of the spring season, as we witness so much that has died away before winter spring back to life.

In Tibetan culture, Maya is also a significant name. Buddha’s (Shakyamuni) mother, Gyultrulma is also referred to as Mahamaya, Great Maya, or Mayadevi, the Goddess Maya in the scriptures. Seven days after Buddha was born, his mother died and was reborn into the Heaven of Thirty-Three (Trayastrimsa), leaving Buddha to be raised by his aunt and stepmother.

Motherhood is quite significant in Tibetan Buddhism. One core principle which most Buddhists live by is the recognition that all beings, including animals, are part of an ever-continuing cycle of birth, life and death. Based on this belief of reincarnation, Buddhists conclude that every individual that you encounter was once your mother in a past life or will become your mother in a future life. As a result, all mothers are to be cherished.

An autumn festival, Lha-bab Deuchen, celebrated on the 22nd day in the ninth lunar month of the Tibetan calendar, is sometimes equated to the Western celebration of Mother’s Day. On the 22^nd day of the ninth month, Buddha vanished from earth and ascended into the Heaven of Thirty-Three. He spent three months teaching his mother, Mayadevi, and the other deities in repayment and gratitude for Mayadevi’s loving kindness, with the goal of freeing them from the cycle of reincarnation. After three months, Buddha was urged to return to earth. According to legend, Buddha returned to earth as promised, escorted by two deities upon a triple staircase that they had constructed of sapphire, gold and crystal. Following the descent, the staircase slowly disappeared and eventually vanished. Lha-bab Deuchen celebrates the anniversary of Buddha’s descent from the Heaven of Thirty-Three.

The ascent and teachings are considered to be one of the great deeds of the eight great deeds of Buddha . It is part of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition to engage in virtuous activities and prayer on this day, in commemoration of Buddha’s feats in honoring his mother, and in celebration of Mayadevi herself.

Mother of Knowledge (Tibetan Translation Series)

By Ilana Schreiber

On March 8^th, International Women’s Day is celebrated as an official holiday around the globe. In countries such as Italy, Russia, Poland, Macedonia, Vietnam, Australia, China, and many more, thousands of events take place in celebration of women and their achievements, and in creating awareness of the need for women’s rights in nations around the world. International Women’s Day is about honoring and inspiring women through the appreciation of women as the makers of history, honoring the age-old struggle of women to garner equality to men in order to be able to fully participate in society.

International Women’s Day came into existence in the early 1900’s, born out of the political and social unrest dominating the industrialized world. In 1908, the United States celebrated the first National Women’s Day upon a declaration by the Socialist Party of America. Women in the United States continued to celebrate National Women’s Day on the last Sunday of February until 1913. Meanwhile, in 1910, Copenhagen hosted the second ever Conference of Working Women. At this conference, over 100 women from 17 countries assembled, representing unions, socialist parties, and working women’s clubs. By the end of the gathering, the proposal of a Women’s Day, to be celebrated on the same date each year to help garner support for women’s rights, was unanimously supported.

On the 19^th of March, 1911, following the decision in Copenhagen, International Women’s Day premiered in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. Over one million women and men took part in International Women’s Day rallies, pressing for women’s suffrage and women’s rights to work, to be trained, to hold public office and in overall efforts to end discrimination. This time, however, became marked with tragedy when six days later, the devastating Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire (“Triangle Fire”) in New York City took the lives of 146 women, most of them Italian and Jewish immigrants.  As these deaths occurred because of unsafe working conditions and bolted exit doors, this disaster called attention to working conditions and labor laws in the United States, which later became a focal point of International Women’s Day events.

As World War I began, International Women’s Day became a means to campaign for peace. On the last Sunday in February, 1913, Russian women marked their first International Women’s Day. It was then agreed upon to begin to hold International Women’s Day on the 8^th of March, and that date continues to be the global date for International Women’s Day today. In 1914, much of Europe joined in as countless women held rallies to protest the war and to demonstrate women’s solidarity. A few years later, in 1917, with the death toll at 2 million Russian soldiers, Russian women overcame fierce political opposition and led a monumental strike for “bread and peace” as part of what is known as the February Revolution. The uprising succeeded in forcing the Czar (Czar Nicholas II) to abdicate the throne and in garnering the right to vote for Russian women. Though this strike took place on Sunday February 23^rd on the Julian calendar in use in Russia at the time, the historic Sunday fell on the 8^th of March on the Gregorian calendar that all other countries were using at the time.

Though the United States commemorated International Women’s Day during the 1910’s and 1920’s, the celebrations soon faded away. During the women’s movement in the 1960’s, the holiday was somewhat revived, though without its socialist ties. It became officially sponsored by the United Nations in 1975. The United States began holding “Women’s History Week” in various states at this time, and in 1987, March was officially and nationally declared “Women’s History Month,” which the U.S. marks each year rather than federally recognizing International Women’s Day.

Since its rise out of the socialist movement, International Women’s Day has emerged as a day of appreciation and celebration throughout both developed and developing countries across the globe. The holiday has been strengthened throughout the years by the progress of the international women’s movement, and reinforced by four global United Nations women’s conferences. In short, International Women’s Day is an annual global holiday which historically and currently creates awareness of the need for change and growth in women’s rights and equality, and generates large-scale events bringing people together in celebration and commemoration of women’s advancement and the many women who have played tremendous roles in achieving these successes.

The Woman’s Book of Courage: Meditations for Empowerment & Peace of Mind

By Ilana Schreiber

Though many Jews celebrate Mother’s Day on the second Sunday in May, the importance, meaning, and commemoration of mothers in Judaism extends far beyond this secular holiday. To begin exploring the mother as a central figure in Judaism, it is significant to begin with examining the mother within the context of how she is defined through the meanings and construct of the Hebrew language, and how she then becomes a defining factor herself.

The Hebrew word for mother is m), Eim (pronounced eem, and read from right to left). This Hebrew lettering is also the same for the word “im”, which means “if,”  which, when defined in English, describes a condition allowing something else to exist. In Judaism, the family is dictated by the mother, as a child is Jewish only if her or his mother is Jewish. With one’s ethnicity as a Jew passing directly from the mother, mothers are the “condition” allowing others to exist. In forming a vital physical and spiritual link to the next generation, a Jewish mother is essentially the very fabric which holds the Jewish people together.

m) , Eim, is also significant based on its numerical value. Every letter in the Hebrew alphabet (Alefbet), has a corresponding number, much like the Roman Numerals are written in letter characters. Based on the system of numerical values linked with the Alefbet, every word also then has a numerical value. Biblical and mystical theologies, such as Kabbalah, exist associated with the meanings behind these numbers within the words. For example, the number 18 is very significant, because it is the numerical value of the word yx, Chai, meaning “life.” Donations to Jewish charities are routinely made in denominations of 18 for that reason. The numerical value of Eim is 41.

The numerical value of 41, “mother,” is of significance in relation to Rachel, the Jewish Matriarch, and wife of Jacob, the third Jewish patriarch. The 41^st day of the Jewish calendar year, the 11th of Cheshvan, recalls the yahrzeit (day commemorating the death) of Rachel. Rachel is known for her complete and indiscriminate compassion. In the Torah, Rachel’s compassion is seen through her care for animals and through her relationships with the people around her. There are numerous examples and stories demonstrating her in situations where she exhibits true mercy and selflessness. In the Jewish faith, most regard Rachel as the “mother of our Jewish nature” and the spiritual matriarch of the Jewish people who are scattered throughout the world. To many, she reflects the cry for their physical and spiritual return. In the Torah, Rachel is “she who refuses to be comforted until the ingathering of her children is realized.”     

In March of 2000 (11 Cheshvan, 5760), Rachel’s Children Reclamation Foundation founded the official “Jewish Mother’s Day.” With proclamations from New York City officials at the request of the Foundation President, Evelyn Solomon Haeis, this day was officially inaugurated in commemoration of Rachel Imeinu (Rachel Our Mother). Rachel was presented as the “Jewish mother par excellence,” portraying standards of empathy, sympathy, love, family, strength, activism, and a mother fighting for her children, in addition to  being an example of “good ideology.” On the 11 of Cheshvan, and year round, people of the Jewish faith celebrate Rachel and the spirit of compassion and Jewish motherhood.

Yom ha’em sameah!

By Ilana Schreiber

Approximately 96% of people in the United States recognize Mother’s Day on the second Sunday of each year. As the holiday approaches, children are inundated with images of children and dads buying gifts and cards for grateful moms in the media. If you walk into most classrooms around this time, you will find children busy creating special projects and cards to bring home to present with excitement to their mothers on that special Sunday.

However, what about the children from nontraditional homes? In 2006, figures reported by the U.S. Census Bureau reflected that only 15% of all families in the United States fit the model of the “typical American family,” a heterosexual married couple, with the woman caring for the children inside of the home and the man working outside of the home.

Converse to this model, children in the U.S. live in a wide array of family types. For example, while some children do live in a home with a biological mother and father, many live with only one parent. Other children who live with two parents often live with one biological or adoptive parent and one stepparent. Many children live with two mothers or two fathers, in same-sex households, and the parents of some children are married, and others are not. Some children are cared for by relatives, foster parents, or childcare agencies and don’t identify their caregiver as “parents” at all.

This is not to say that those of us who want to celebrate our mothers, or want to be celebrated, shouldn’t – after all, mothers deserve to be honored for all that they do. It is important, however, to acknowledge that families differ. Unless we acknowledge the diversity among families in the United States, we alienate a great number of our children on holidays such as Mother’s Day. When a child who lives with her aunt, after the death of her mother, is not recognized in a third grade classroom, for example, she can be left feeling isolated during a seemingly fun class project when her classmates are creating special Mother’s Day cards to bring home for the holiday. Depending on the child, she may let the teacher know that she is feeling left out of the festivities, but more often she will be embarrassed and will go with the norm despite the discomfort of doing such an activity.

Another common issue that arises in the classroom is again based on a lack of awareness. In the zeal of creating fun Mother’s Day projects, teachers will often dissuade or even completely restrict a child from making more than one Mother’s Day card. When a child has two mothers, for example, whether it be in a stepparent situation or a same-sex family, if a child is not allowed to make a card for both mothers, he or she is forced to choose one over the other and again left with an alienated and uncomfortable feeling.

Mother’s Day has been celebrated for almost one hundred years, and much progress has happened during this time. As the United States increasingly embraces diversity, it will be interesting to see the changes that occur to accommodate the diversity in families and to support the children who live within them.

Readings for Diversity and Social Justice: An Anthology on Racism, Antisemitism, Sexism, Heterosexism, Ableism, and Classism