My Thoughts as We Embark upon a New Initiative in Support of Religious Pluralism at the Kotel
by Rabbi Dan Goldblatt, Beth Chaim Congregation, Danville, California; President, OHALAH (Renewal), International Vice Chair, Rabbis for Women of the Wal
We live at a moment of great blessing in Jewish history. There has been a great healing of old patriarchal wounds and we have women rabbis, cantors, chaplains, and liturgists. For centuries, we were taught that Kabbalah was an expression of the divine feminine albeit articulated by men. Today, thank G-d, we are blessed to have this coming through the beauty of women’s voices.
In our holy land of Israel, we stand together with the Women of the Wall and all those who hold dear the words that speak to our hearts from the Torah, “B’Tzelem Elohim . . . In the image of G-d, the Creator made them, male and female G-d created them. (Genesis 1:27)
We pray that the day has come when, women, created in the image of the divine, can worship, sing out, chant from Torah, and if they choose, wrap themselves in tallit, tefillin standing at the Kotel, the resonant symbol of the holy places of our tradition.
We stand with them and make an unequivocal commitment to do all that we can to ensure that Israel honor its commitment to all of Klal Yisrael in its wondrously diverse, pluralistic and egalitarian splendor.
http://www.bethchaim.com/
Photo credit: Hila Shiloni