The following poem is a short excerpt from a healing ceremony designed to assure an abused Jewish woman that she is not alone. This empowering and optimistic version of Eishet Chayil affirms the battered woman’s attempt to change her situation and assures her that she has the inner strength to create a new life for herself. Whereas Eishet Chayil is traditionally sung to a woman, in this case, the woman is practicing self-love bye reciting the poem about herself. Many of the themes and images mentioned in this poem found in the traditional text in Proverbs 31. Although this poem is written with abused women in mind, it can be relevant and empowering for all women. First published in When Love is Not Enough: Spousal Abuse in Rabbinic and Contemporary Judaism, by Rabbi Julie Ringold Spitzer, the full version of this ceremony can be viewed here on Ritualwell, a project of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College that provides a platform for creating new Jewish practices and observances.
An Eishet Chayil Poem for Abused Women
I am a woman of valor,
My arms are new with strength.
My hands will plant vineyards;
With dignity will I tend them,
With laughter and with wisdom will I make them grow;
And I will seek goodness all the days of my life.