Police arrest woman praying at Western Wall – Israel Jewish Scene, Ynetnews.
In this article, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef lashes out against ‘stupid women who come to Western Wall, don a prayer shawl, and pray.’
I wasn’t there today, but for those of you who checked out last month’s post about my experience with Women of the Wall— this is the same group. Today, a young woman was arrested at the Kotel for wearing a tallit and preparing to read Torah.
This isn’t just an issue of Orthodox vs. Reform/Conservative. From the windows of Hebrew Union College (where women have studied to become rabbis for nearly 40 years), I can see the wall of the Old City— where today, this woman was arrested (according to the article, she is 21 years old and had woken up at 4:30am to make the trip to Jerusalem from Beersheva).
The work of feminism isn’t done—- not even in the world of Reform Judaism, where we so often point to women on the bima and say “See— we did it. Why do we still need to talk about feminism?”. Why? Because until we all have the right to practice our religion and live our lives freely, none of us will know true freedom.
My birthday is next week… this year, most of you won’t have the opportunity to celebrate with me in person— no Staten Island ferry trips, or rollerskating, or gymnastics, or pizza parties. My request is this: if you might have spent a little time or money on my birthday this year- use those resources to support Women of the Wall. Do you think you might have bought me a drink, or chipped in for some group dinner at restaurant, or even sent me a birthday card? I would love it if you took that 49 cents, or $6, or $20, and thought about donating it to Women of the Wall, the Israel Religious Action Center or any other organization that you care about that works towards providing equal rights and ensuring freedom for all people.
