Mothers' Day

Mothers' Day is one day a year when we remember our mothers and honour them, or children remember their mothers. Sometimes grandchildren too remember their grandmothers, or the parents push the grandchildren to say or write a word to their grandmothers. After that day everything goes back to its place. Some give a flower, a little gift to the mother. But generally everything is settled with a phone call: 'Mama, congratulations on your day' — and that is all. Yet the mother waits every day to be called, to be asked how she is, to be remembered by her children and grandchildren, and not just one day a year.

It all began in ancient Greece. The Greeks and later the Romans worshipped a goddess known as the 'Mother Goddess', with different names such as 'Rhea', 'Demeter', 'Cybele', whom we know under the name 'Kibele'. In Ephesus the goddess of the city was 'Artemis'. Her statue is known for having many breasts, or testicles, symbols of high fertility; she too was considered the 'Mother Goddess'. In the same city of Ephesus the Christians gave the name 'Mother of God', 'Theotokos', to Mary, who was the mother of Jesus. The celebration was always held in spring.

So this worship of the 'Mother Goddess' changed with time into celebrating 'Mothering Sunday' among the early Christians — again celebrating the Mother on a Sunday in spring. In the 16th century CE, Mothering Sunday became a religious day to celebrate the 'Mother Church', a Sunday on which families who had servants gave them leave to go and visit their mothers. In the 20th century this tradition had almost died out until, in the United States, a woman named Anna Jarvis revived it to honour her mother. Her ambition was to secure one day a year for everyone to go and honour their mothers. In 1914, before the First World War began, the American President Wilson signed the law saying that the second Sunday of May would be 'Mother's Day' throughout America. At first Anna Jarvis was very happy. But later she protested very strongly against the commercialization of this day, which turned into a day for buying and selling gifts for mother. Among the gifts, what Jarvis liked least were cards prepared with reflections on mother, without a single personal word written.

What is interesting is that 'Mother's Day' is celebrated today on different dates in the countries of the world. In Israel it is the 30th of Shevat (this year it was 21 February). The Arab countries of the Middle East celebrate it on 21 March, the spring equinox. Spain and Portugal, the first Sunday of May. The second Sunday of May is the day celebrated by most countries; Poland, 26 May; France, the last Sunday of May; Belgium, 15 August; Argentina, the third Sunday of October; Russia, the last Sunday of November.

Kol ha-Kavod to all the Mothers of the World. Blessed they are, and blessed may they be for ever.