Monday, November 8, 2010

Women of the Wall (11/8)

Women of the Wall: http://womenofthewall.org.il/

This morning I woke up VERY early (the alarm was set for 5:41am, only so I could snooze for 4 minutes) to walk to the Kotel with some friends, to join the Women of the Wall for Rosh Chodesh (the new month). I first learned about the Women of the Wall as a group/movement because of Hillels of Westchester and the film "Praying in Her Own Voice" which Yael Katzir produced a few years ago, and now screens on campuses. I don't think HOW ever managed to get a screening (among all of our other busy programs, student engagement and birthright recruitment), but it certainly turned me on to this idea and I learned about this group of women and other supporters.

One of the first weeks I was here, Rachelle mentioned that she wanted to go to a Women of the Wall service. We agreed we'd do it, but we got so caught up in the first few weeks of our program, that we didn't realize it was already Rosh Chodesh, and we missed the first one. Meanwhile, my mom went to a Hadassah event where they screened the film. This was the first my mom learned about this movement, and she mentioned it to me. Unfortunately it was just a day too late as a reminder to go.

So today was the day! I put it in my calendar about 26 days ago and even though I stayed up late last night watching football (Go Giants!!!) I got up early for this experience. I was really proud to be standing there in solidarity with these women, some of whom have been fighting for the right to pray and sing out loud publicly at the Kotel for 20 years. The shacharit service was held on the women's side of the Kotel, with some men on their own side making sure to form a buffer between us and any potentially angry men, who have been known to curse, scream loudly, disrupt prayers, and even throw chairs over the mechitza (how nice, polite, and holy that is). The Torah service is still not permitted at the Kotel; the women have to go to Robinson's Arch, near the southern wall of the Temple Mount, where they are given the privilege to read from the Torah, and wear tefillin and tallitot. What a beautiful sight it was to see so many people, probably over 100 people, come together for such a great cause. Young and old, male and female, wearing all kinds of different outfits and head coverings and tallitot that were absolutely stunning.

After the Torah reading, we were all invited for a small oneg outside the Davidson Center (near the Kotel) with some snacks and drinks and a brief d'var Torah (word of Torah) from one of the board members or staff people (I'm not sure which one she was!) so Rachelle and I stayed for that and caught a cab back to Baka with some Pardes students who I recognized at the service.

I'm definitely looking forward to going back next month.

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