A few weeks ago I was at the salon, having my hair cut. It is a great place for nosy people like me, who like “overhearing” the conversations of others. The woman sitting next to me talked loudly about her husband’s less than thrilling habits, and the salon’s next-door neighbor, who sells diving equipment (diving equipment in Lawrenceville, Georgia?) came by to share the latest update about prospective new tenants in the building. Lots of interesting information was floating in the air.
Just as my hair cut was almost completed, an older woman stopped by to talk to Michaelanne, my stylist. The older woman announced with pride that she was taking classes, studying for her bat mitzvah. With great excitement, she shared that her rabbi had decided that since the older women in the congregation had been excluded from participating in a bat mitzvah when they were girls, they should now be invited and should have opportunity to learn and study and celebrate.
I smiled at the older woman and offered her words of congratulations and thought -“What a wonderful day when a faith community thinks to include all its women and to provide a time of redemption and grace for those who have been left out.”
Pam Durso is executive director of Baptist Women in Ministry, Atlanta, Georgia.