Towards the end of Chanukah falls Rosh Chodesh Tevet, which marks the entrance of a new Hebrew month. In many Jewish communities, Rosh Chodesh is uniquely connected to women, and in North African communities, the special Rosh Chodesh that falls during Chanukah is proclaimed Chag HaBanot or Eid Al-Banat in Judeo-Arabic. The night commemorates the character of Judith, who seduces and slays the enemy general— to which the tradition teaches us that the only through righteous women did the Jewish people merit the miracles associated with the holidays of Purim (Esther), Chanukah (Judith), and Passover (the entire generation of women who crossed the Red Sea).

In the Tunisian Jewish community, whose preservation of this custom gives us the richest glimpse into this special night of Chanukah, it was customary for women to give one another gifts or to share special meals. Another tradition teaches that women would go to the synagogue (in Tunis, specifically the mythical bedroom and library turned synagogue and mikveh of one of the only female composers of Jewish liturgical poetry Friha bat Avraham), to touch the Torah and pray for the health of the women in their family.

An invitation, as the moon wanes to a new moon amidst long nights entering the darkest moment of the year. To look around at our loved ones, our friends, our colleagues and to not just empathize with their challenges and hardships but to pray for their success in overcoming those adversaries. Perhaps you aren’t the praying type, in which case I invite you into a prayerful act you can do for and with others. It is the prayerful act of deep presence, of when the going gets tough you don’t get going, you stick around despite the darkness.