Women are returning to the classroom decades after leaving it, and this time, the learning is leading them to the ultimate goal: a rich relationship with their Creator and themselves
Many frum women grew up with the concept that their exclusive identity is that of wife and mother. And for most women, for an extended period, that was their primary role.
“But what happens when the children grow up?” asks Mrs. Esther Wein, an internationally recognized educator and lecturer for 35 years. “Some women get depressed when they realize the mothering phase of their life is over. They wonder: Who am I? In their minds, they have no identity anymore.”
These women may have lost focus of the fact that, in addition to their role as wife and mother, they also have a responsibility to their own souls. Mrs. Wein shares a phone call she recently received from a 38-year-old woman with a large family who, because of medical issues, was unable to have more children and was pained over her new status.
When she probed, Mrs. Wein discovered that this woman saw her value only as a mother. It seemed the real reason she wanted to have more children was to avoid facing the inevitable, painful question, “If I’m not a mother, then who am I?”
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