by Simone Schicker WOW Intern and HUC-JIR Rabbinic Student
Love your neighbor as yourself, You said[1]
As You told us the laws by which we should live
Yet
Young boys are taught
That they have the right
Nay
That they are commanded
By You
To taunt me on the street
When I wear my faith for you
On my head
A covering
With no sacred meaning
Except the one that Your people gave to it
My star around my neck gets no response
And my male friends
Who wear a covering but no tzitzit
Are not chastised for being reformi
But if I was to dare
In this city
To wear my love for you daily
On my head
Or on my body
I would be pushed and shoved
Not only at the Kotel[2]
But on the street
For how dare I
A woman
Show my dedication to You
My Rock and my Redeemer[3]