“The Festival of the Daughters,” – or Eid Al-Banat in Arabic – is a Jewish holiday celebrated traditionally on the first day of the month of Tevet (Wednesday) during the last days of Hanukkah.
This ancient holiday, which celebrates the women of the community, traces its roots to ancient times and was kept mainly by Jewish communities of North Africa and Thessaloniki, Greece.
The Jerusalem Post reached out to Heli Tabibi Bareket, founder of the Hebrew Schedule initiative and head of the Research and Heritage department at the Culture and Sport Ministry, to hear more about this unique holiday.
“Eid Al-Banat as a holiday dates back to the days of Ezra and Nehemia, just like the Sigd,” stated Tabibi Bareket, referring to the famous holiday celebrated by the Jews of the Ethiopian diaspora. “It was kept mainly by communities of Tunisia, Djerba, Tripoli, Algiers, Thessaloniki, and Fez in Morocco.”
An ancient holiday celebrating the bravery of women
According to Tabibi Bareket, the days of Rosh Hodesh (the first day of the Hebrew month) were all dedicated to women due to an ancient tradition that maintained that women refused to donate their belongings to create the Golden Calf – as opposed to their pivotal role in the establishment of the Tabernacle.
“For this reason, on Rosh Hodesh, women would wear white clothing and abstain from working, celebrating, and feasting together.”
As for the first day of Tevet, Tabibi Bareket added that several other traditions featuring women coincided with this date, including the coronation of Esther; the killing of Assyrian warlord Holofernes by Judith; the instigation of the Hasmonean revolt by Hannah, daughter of Mattityahu; and others.
“All of these traditions were led by women figures who acted with bravery and wisdom,” she added.
“In Hebrew, the word for courage, gvurah (strength), comes from the same root as gever (man). But here it was acts of resourcefulness, or tushiya in Hebrew, which are related to ‘yesh’ – existing, [and] acting within reality with the tools you have.”
Tabibi Bareket continued: “In our times, it is especially meaningful to address and honor the women in our community. We know of women who serve in the IDF but whose warnings of an impending Hamas attack were dismissed.
“And we also have women hostages who stood against their captors with bravery – bereaved mothers and widows who are now revealed in all their glory and strength and speak to our entire nation. I wish we would see more women in leadership positions as should be,” she added.
From North Africa to Israel
Eid Al-Banat was celebrated differently in each community. According to Tabibi Bareket, in Tunisia, the celebrations entailed a collective bat mitzvah for all the girls turning 12 in the coming year. In Tripoli, Libya, married women would convene and bless the single ones; in Thessaloniki, the women would also ask for forgiveness from one another; and in Fez, Morocco, families of engaged couples would light Hanukkah candles at each other’s homes.
“In Israel, celebrations used to continue on a community basis in women’s homes,” explained Tabibi Bareket.
“Once we launched the Hebrew Schedule initiative several years ago, we began seeing more and more events in the public sphere,” she added, referring to the unique initiative she leads to include traditional communal Jewish holidays within the Israeli cycle of the year.
“Nowadays, Eid Al-Banat events even enjoy government funding through the Education and Culture Ministries, and Eid Al-Banat is now also part of the Education Ministry’s calendar,” she added.
Tabibi Bareket’s involvement in the revival of traditional Jewish celebrations stems from her own personal life.
“I am from Kurdish, Persian, and Turkish Jewish ancestry, and my husband’s family hails from Tripoli. One day he came home with a bag full of gifts for me, and when I reacted with surprise, he simply answered: ‘it’s Eid Al-Banat!’ And explained about the holiday.
“This resonated with me as we, as Kurdish Jews, also have our traditional holidays – Seharane and Sizdah Bedar, for instance – and I also knew about the North African Bsise, the Indian Malida, and the Ethiopian Sigd.
“Some of these holidays were led by women and for women, which is different from the main holidays we celebrate,” Tabibi Bareket continued. We’ve managed to keep our traditions for 3000 years, and then back in Israel, we suddenly forgot them while trying to build a new Israeli identity.
“This is an unfortunate mistake that we are now trying to correct, and the renaissance of Eid Al-Banat is a good example of these endeavors,” she concluded.