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

Just Another Brick In the Wall




The case of Anat Hoffman: arrested at the Kotel for saying the Shema out loud. Arrested for being a Jew who wants to pray at our holiest site. Arrested for being a woman in a man’s world. I have a great respect for all Jews and I respect their right to worship as they wish. From Orthodox to Reform, Jews have many different ways to serve God. What is most important is that we share the same goals- to do Mitzvot and to better the world. As someone who chose to be Jewish I have always cherished the idea that as a religious community we have more in common than the things that divide us into the various modern denominations.

In the last week many people have spoken out against the unfair treatment women receive when they pray at the Kotel. Like many things, this situation will never be resolved until the State of Israel recognizes the pluralistic nature of modern Jewish religious life. That will never happen until there is a coalition government that does not need the support of the religious parties. One of the paradoxes of the State of Israel is that all Jews are welcome but, because of politics, not all kinds of Judaism are welcome.

The arrest of Anat Hoffman is an embarrassment to me. It also makes me feel like a hypocrite- after all the complaining that all of us do about the way Islam treats women as second class people look what we have done. No, I am not comparing the Israeli Rabbinate to Mullahs- Islam could learn from us for a thousand years and still not catch up- but I am comparing the situation that leads to needless unequal treatment. No, Anat Hoffman will not be flogged or put in prison but she did have to agree to stay away from the Kotel for 30 days. Why should any Jew be denied the right to worship there?

Anat Hoffman and the group known as “Women of the Wall” are making an important statement: the Israeli Rabbinate cannot ignore the religious rights of women nor can they exist in a vacuum that ignores the religious sentiments of Diaspora Jewry. Maybe the most positive lesson that we can glean from this situation is to appreciate and praise an overlooked segment of the Israeli population. Perhaps the greatest spiritual heroes are those individuals who, though not Orthodox, choose to live in Israel because of their religious convictions. Conservative and Reform Jews who make aliyah often do so with the “religious” deck stacked against them. Their services will be held in schools and rooms, their “rabbis” will not be sanctioned to perform many life cycle events, yet they go to Israel to fulfill the Mitzvah of Aliyah. Anat Hoffman and many such men and women are the true heroes- fighting to make Medinat Yisrael a place for all Jews.