Women of the Brawl


Several days ago there was a very tragic scene that unfolded at the Kotel. What the Israeli press described as “a public brawl” took place as members of the ultra-orthodox communities tried to block the service that had been planned by “Women of the Wall.” WOW, as they are known, represents observant woman who wish to pray at the wall. Many of them wear tallitot and observe other rituals that are traditionally observed by males. The on-going friction between them and the Heridi community has often erupted in controversy leading to arrests and court orders.

This month the game changer came when an Israeli court ruled that Women of the Wall can legally hold services at the Kotel in any manner they wish. Needless to say, the Orthodox community has refused to recognize their rights to worship. Government officials have even suggested that the Kotel plaza now have three sections- “Men,” “Women,” and “Egalitarian.” This suggestion has done little to ease friction. The question of religious pluralism continues to be a thorn in the side of Israeli society. While the Orthodox rabbinate continues to use its political power to keep hold of authority, small steps have been taken. The real tragedy is that the situation only aggravates other social divisions in Israeli society.

“Jewish unity” has become a real buzz word lately- it alludes to some far off time in which all Jews can work together for the common good of our people. Under current circumstances such “unity” is a bad joke. What site is holier or more a focus of Jewish peoplehood than the Kotel? Yet even the Kotel is a battleground for Jews who just can’t agree on how to worship the God of Israel. Why is mutual respect and tolerance for your fellow Jew so elusive? I believe in Israel as a Jewish state- as an observant Jew that Jewish state must have a Jewish soul. Without Judaism a “Jewish state” becomes an ethnic caricature. But that Jewish soul has to be large enough to dwell in everyone. Putting the “Jewish” in Jewish state is not just the job of the ultra-right.

Women of the Wall deserve a place at the Kotel. Every Jew deserves a place at the Kotel. One of the things that always makes me proud to be a Jew is that we are a people which has never been embittered by the pain that history has inflicted upon us. That positive spirit has allowed us to exist under the worst of circumstances- it also has been the spirit of constant spiritual growth. To see Jews attacking other Jews on religious grounds is a sign that we are slipping backwards, that the impetus to withdraw from the world is out pacing the honest need to confront the world and modernity itself. Those who act as if Judaism could exist in a vacuum are condemning Judaism to the status of a relic.

Women of the Wall represents another step in the Jewish confrontation with modernity. It may be a battle but it is a battle that we have always confronted and, so far, we have won. I hope somewhere out there we can find a voice to reconcile the growing gap between modernity and tradition.



This article appeared in the South Florida Jewish Journal

Our Torah, Our Purpose




Next week on the 15th and 16th we celebrate Shavuot, the holiday the rabbis called Zeman Matan Toratanu. Shavuot celebrates the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai but the rabbinic phrase actually means “the time of the giving of our Torah. There is much to learn in this little phrase, after all wasn’t it God’s Torah that he gave to Israel. Why should the sages go out of their way to emphasis that it is our Torah?

Today one of the buzz words we often hear is about giving someone a reason to “own” an idea or a cause. It means giving someone a reason to commit fully- to give them “ownership.” While this may make a lot of sense in the corporate world, it also reveals what Judaism is all about. When we, as a people, accepted the Torah at Mt. Sinai it did becomes ours. The Torah is a code of holiness, a code of conduct, and a code to “unlock” the secrets of human life. The Torah is also a blueprint for creating a better world. If Israel was not ready to turn abstract ideas into the daily workings of human society then the Torah was really God’s book not Israel’s Book.

In the Torah the loftiest spiritual messages sit side by side with some of the seemingly most mundane details of human life. This often confuses people. What would God care about the way in which people harvest their crops or make their clothes or anything else that is so pitifully human. God does care about these “little details” because they reflect much larger ideas. You live what you believe. If you perceive the world as a sacred place you will treat it as such. If you treat it as something that rests beyond God’s concern then it is beyond your concern also.

Shavuot celebrates the giving of our Torah because it is we who bring Torah into the world of everyday life. Consider the recent factory tragedy in India. An eight story factory was constructed without permits or supervision of any kind. The building was used as a clothing factory to turn out clothes that would be sold in America. This labor force worked for ten cents a day to create the clothes that we wear. When the building literally fell in on itself hundreds of people died. They are still searching for bodies. Is it any wonder that the Torah includes laws on how to treat workers?

That is but one example. If you search the pages of the Torah you will see why our “ownership” is critical. Only by each of us making the effort to address the world as it is, and longing to make it what it could be , does God’s Torah become ours. There is an old saying that “the devil is in the details.” In reality it is God who is in the details.

Shavuot is something to celebrate- no people has ever had the opportunity to share in re-creating the world in the way we have. The only question is if we will make the Torah ours or, through our inaction, let God keep it to Himself.

This article appeared in the South Florida Jewish Journal.