A year ago I entered the women’s side of the mechitza at the Kotel (Western Wall) and tried to place a prayer written on a small piece of paper into one of the cracks. The prayer asked Gd to create space for me at the wall and in Jewish community generally, as well as for the strength to be active in creating that space for myself and others.
I had never felt more divided.
Yesterday, as I stood in front of dozens of young men dancing in a circle marked by high levels of testosterone, I struggled to hear my own prayers over those Carlebach niggunim sung and shouted so loudly that my ears actually hurt.
Of course these young men had every right to a loud festivity. And they had every right to hold it in front of the Western Wall.
I am glad that Ariella Rosen wrote her blog describing what happened two days ago on Rosh Hodesh Sivan at the Kotel. She describes so eloquently what I was feeling. I was standing next to her and I too was wearing a long tallit.
What exactly is one supposed to do when asked to change one’s tallit during Shema? I think we both got it right — comply respectfully at the end of the prayer. Looking back, it was obvious that this was a trap. Why else would the police officers wait 30 minutes until exactly that part of the service to ask us to remove our tallitot if not to catch us when we could not do so?
Just this past week, Israelis and Jews around the world marked the day that has come to known as Yom Yerushalayim, a semi-holiday celebrating the reuniting of East and West Jerusalem during the 6 day war in 1967. Though Yom Yerushalayim is not an entirely uncomplicated commemoration (see, for example, Rabbi Jill Jacob’s critical comments on the day) one positive good that came from the victory of the IDF in Jerusalem over mostly Jordanian forces was the opening of the Old City to Jews. For the first time I many years, Jews could freely walk through the Jerusalem’s Old City and could visit the kotel, a small section of a wall of the Temple courtyard.
As my time in Israel is coming to a close – I honestly can’t believe where I’m standing right now, 15 days remaining at the University, but that’s for another post – I had a few things left that I needed to cross of my mental bucket list, which is almost as cool as Kari‘s real bucket list. After watching a documentary in class about Women of the Wall, I was reminded that it was on the supposed list. Study abroad plug: Without a doubt, the coolest part of studying abroad has been being able to learn outside of the classroom. So much of what I’ve seen, hasn’t been from a text book, also because the University of Haifa is a green campus. Nevertheless, we talk about something in class and then we’re able to see it in action.
In my first blog post of the year, I reflected on my inaugural Rosh Chodesh prayer experience with Women of the Wall and my hopes for identifying with their mission. Moved, proud, and excited, I wrote:
“The point is to make a space for US, not to try to change THEM. It was empowering to reclaim a space that hadn’t felt like mine for a long time, and to pray there the way I know how.”
Last week, on this site, Rabbi Joshua Hammerman wrote about a group that “has been denied the basic right that every Jewish … Read more
Upon arriving in Jerusalem at the beginning of September, I looked forward to attending Rosh Hodesh services with Women of the Wall. However, like most recent college graduate, I found myself speeding through daily life, suddenly realizing that it was late April and I had lost track of time. I got caught up with work, training for various road races, going out with friends, grocery shopping in the shuk and cooking new recipes, squeezing in yoga classes here and there, etc. Most importantly, I had yet to wear my tallis at the Kotel and pray with Women of the Wall.
This week in South Africa we have celebrated Freedom Day, which marks 18 years since we became a democracy. In the new South Africa, our Constitution places a duty upon us to promote equality in all spheres of our lives. Gender equality is central. Nelson Mandela said, “freedom cannot be achieved unless the women have been emancipated from all forms of oppression”. In the last few years, we’ve seen moves the world over to restrict women’s equality in the Jewish world. In Jerusalem our sister organisation, the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC), brought a case to the Supreme Court against women being segregated to the back of buses. In Modí’in this month, a woman was removed from the stage of a circus after an ultra-Orthodox audience member complained. Here in South Africa, women’s voices have been slowly removed from singing at our secular communal events.
Today, I missed the Wall. While living in Jerusalem for the academic year, I’ve made it a point to pray each … Read more
