“A little bit of light pushes away the darkness”, Rabbi Nathalie Lastreger reflects on the beautiful, peaceful prayer Women of the Wall completed this morning at the Western Wall, in the women’s section. Women of the Wall shared a spirited prayer, many with prayer shawls (tallit) and phylacteries (tefillin), and celebrated Rosh Hodesh Tevet and Hag Habanot, Festival of Daughters. The attempt by Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Pindrus to arrange buses of protesters and ultra-Orthodox rabbis who called for protest against the women’s prayer, less than ten women stood in opposition. Several men screamed and yelled, harassing women during their prayer and one man was detained for throwing a chair at police officers. The prayer was the most peaceful in recent year, showing a true shift in the acceptance of the Western Wall as shared space for all Jews.
Throughout the prayer, Hallel Silverman, age 18, who was arrested last year for wearing a tallit held vigil with the Women of the Wall Torah scroll. Entrance with a Torah scroll is prohibited and women are refused use of one of 100 scrolls held at the Kotel by the Western Wall heritage foundation for “public” (male only) use. This Catch 22 was created and passed in an ordinance by Rabbi Rabinowitz in 2012 and serves to discriminate against women in the public, holy site. Silverman, who will be recruited to the Israel Defense Forces in March 2014, said: “I protest the ultra-Orthodox control over my life and my Jewish expression”.
Women of the Wall celebrated the Festival of Daughters today with special Sephardic melodies. Groups of women were blessed under a canopy- a tallit, prayer shawl- during the Torah service. The Torah was read from a humash, a book, as women are still forbidden access to a Torah Scroll at the Kotel.
For twenty-five years Women of the Wall has struggled for religious freedom and women’s rights at the Western Wall. As Women of the Wall, our central mission is to achieve the social and legal recognition of our right, as women, to wear prayer shawls, pray, and read from the Torah collectively and out loud at the Western Wall.
Press Contact:
Shira Pruce Director of Public Relations +972(0)546898351 media@womenofthewall.org.il
Background:
Rosh Hodesh Tevet is celebrated by North African Jewish communities as Hag Habanot- the Festival of Daughters ( Eid al- Banat ). According to tradition, observance of Hag Habanot includes giving praise and thanks to the female heroes who were responsible for many of the miracles of Israel- starting primarily with Yehudith. Yehudith beheaded Commander of the Persian Army, Holofernes, assisting the victory of the Jews over the Greeks. Similarly, the daughter of Yohanan, the High Priest, is celebrated for her courage, for killing the Greek bishop on her wedding night, thus contributing to the victory of the Maccabees over their enemies.
Customs of the Festival of Daughters’ include: Gifts, prayers and a special blessing in honor of women, recited by rabbis. We also have evidence of communities in which women would have an aliyah, bless the Torah. Another custom is to congratulate and bless all the girls in the community who have become Bat Mitzvah that year.