My wife Esther and our youngest daughter Rivka are enjoying a special time in New York. Seminars, classes, networking, farbrengens, informal reunions and mentoring are all part of the International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Women Emissaries. But, that’s not what’s unique about this conference.
Taking up all the available meeting space at the Brooklyn Marriott are several thousand women and their babies. Women attend sessions while their infants are watched by babysitters in adjacent rooms. It’s truly a one-of-a-kind event where nursing mothers, grandmothers, and newlyweds can participate together as equals.
I would venture to say it’s the world’s largest (non-parenting) conference for women with their babies.
Here is a photo of Rebbetzin Esther and her colleague Rebbetzin Raizy Mendelsohn of Jackson, Wyoming with their babies at this week’s Kinus HaShluchos (click here to view the live webcast on Sunday). 
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Attitudes toward the role of women have changed over the years. As we observe (tomorrow) the yahrzeit of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, the role model for Lubavitch women, it’s appropriate to ask, what is the Jewish view for ladies in our families, communities and societies?
A peek at this week’s parsha is very telling.
When G-d tells Moshe He is ready to reveal Himself to the Jewish people at Sinai, He gives the following prelude: “Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel.”
Who are these two distinct groups, the House of Jacob and the Children of Israel?
The Midrash offers that the House of Jacob refers to Jewish women and the Children of Israel refers to Jewish men.
But, why did the women come first? We traditionally think of men as the primary scholars of Torah, yet here – at the Giving of the Torah – Hashem makes it clear that women precede men! Why?
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Another Midrash tells us that when G-d wanted to give the Torah to the Jewish people He asked for guarantors.
The conversation went like this:
Said the people of Israel: “The heaven and the earth shall be our guarantors.”
Said G‑d: “They won’t last forever.”
Said they: “Our fathers will guarantee it.”
Said He: “They are busy.”
After exhausting other options, the Jewish people said: “Our children will guarantee it.”
Said He: “These are excellent guarantors.”
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Both men and women have equal access to the wisdom of the Torah. Yet, G-d has granted women the unique privilege and talent of mothering. Trust me. I am a father of eight and when I need to hold down the fort on my own (as I am doing right now with 6 children) I realize to the core of my being that as hard as I try I cannot replace my wife. Her patience, affection and devotion is something I will never achieve. It’s not a knock on me or on men. It’s simply recognizing the unique gifts G-d has given and entrusted to each gender.
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Before G-d gave the Torah He made one thing clear. The real transmission of Jewish values and tradition does not occur in the study halls of Yeshivas and Rabbinic academies. The Torah is meant to be part of our lives, not simply an academic object of study.
Judaism is only as strong as the weakest link in the chain. Ensuring the perpetuation of Torah is not only by promoting women as success stories outside of the family. It’s by embracing the critical contribution of women as mothers of tomorrow’s generation of Jews that we truly guaranty the Jewish future.
Mostly, that happens not in synagogues, Jewish centers or board room. It happens in Jewish homes across the world.
And, this week, at the Brooklyn Marriott Hotel.