WomenoftheWall 
Chodesh Tov. As you both must know, former Jerusalem City Council member Anat Hoffman, the director of the Reform movement’s Religious Action Center, and the Chair of Women of the Wall was today, once again, brutally arrested by the Jerusalem police, this time for holding a Torah as she and our group were leaving the Kotel.
A major struggle we face today in Judaism is allowing for differences among religious norms of Jewish practice. In Israel, those who practice ultra-Orthodox Judaism (Hareidim) wield considerable political power.
And then the Haredi group came along with their loud and cacophonous prayers and totally interrupted my kavvanah (focus). I have to say, the women sounded a lot better!
I called my Rabbi late last night and at minyan this morning, he loaned me tefillin and helped me put them on. I was also given an aliyah to the Torah.I
The travails of the Women of the Wall have shown me another story–a tale that tears my soul. Women are being arrested, detained, and assaulted for the crimes of donning tallit and tefillin, carrying a Torah, lifting their voices in prayer.
Today I did so in solidarity with the Women of the Wall, and truly had a wonderful experience davening on a beautiful spring morning in Michigan.
Noa Raz, a Conservative Jew in her early thirties who lives and works in Tel Aviv, was physically assaulted early Tuesday morning by an ultra-Orthodox man at the Central Bus Station in Be’er Sheva for having the imprints of tefillin (phylacteries) lines visible on her arms.
Last Tuesday, I went to a holy place, to daven with a holy community at a holy time – Rosh Chodesh Nissan. I had heard of the Women of the Wall and had the desire to experience their Tefilot, just as I had been exploring Tefilah all over Israel this year. When I arrived at the Kotel, I went to the Womens section and took a moment, as I do every time I visit, to appreciate the historic significance of my ability to stand freely at the Kotel.
Police make all the difference By Devorah Singer Police make all the difference in the world. Remember my first trip … Read more
Last month, I spoke about Women of the Wall and religious pluralism and civility at Shabbat Services for Rosh Hodesh Adar.
