Women Of The Wall

I'm not sure why I think this is a good idea, but i'm going to share my thoughts on the current furore over the Women of the Wall.

I think that what they do is either unnecessary or unexceptional. To pray with tallis and tefillin is unnecessary. The halachic truth (as I have heard it taught): it is not forbidden for women to wear either item. It is not required, and traditionally women never had worn them. Time has hallowed them to be men-only items, but that doesn't mean that any woman who does wear them is breaking any laws. But it is not necessary.

I don't agree with the desire to wear a tallis and tefillin. I don't think it adds anything. But nor am I going to get het up about someone else choosing to wear them. I will think her misguided, but not a sinner. She is someone who wishes to come close to God, who thinks that this will increase her sense of spirituality and inspiration, and although in my opinion she is going about it in an erroneous way, she is not breaking any laws and is also not disturbing my ability to connect with God.

I think that all these claims about the WoW causing disturbances and interfering with the ability of others to pray at the kotel are all spurious. Granted many (most?) people there will not agree with it nor like it. Granted, it may make them feel uncomfortable. But you know what? Life is like that. 

Life is full of things that make us feel uncomfortable. even when we pray. And as anyone who has ever prayed at the kotel knows, it is an experience which is fraught with distractions and disturbances. Sephardi women hanging over the mechitzah (separation) at barmitzvahs, ululating and throwing sweets. Women asking for charity money. Christian tourists praying to Jesus the Messiah (I find that particularly disturbing). Women of all types pushing past you to touch the stones. Hot sun sizzling on your back. Women walking backwards to leave the prayer plaza and bumping into you or treading on your toes. Mobile phones going off. People sobbing loudly. If you want a peaceful, undisturbed prayer experience, the kotel is not the place to go.

I think that the complaints that the WoW prayed too loudly or sang too loudly are also spurious. I accept that they might make it hard for men to pray (but see my point above). The men do have other places to move to to pray. They also could pray louder themselves, or join in, thus preventing themselves from hearing the women's voices. They could just wait a bit till they are finished. or they could be more consistent and request that barmitzvah groups at which the women sing (loudly) be evicted as well.

What is really going on is a part of the bigger debate about who defines Judaism in Israel, and who the kotel belongs to, anyway. A synagogue has every right to tell its worshipers that it has certain rules, which preclude praying in any particular way, and so the worshipers concerned who want to continue in a way which is contrary to the rules will have to go elsewhere. If the kotel is a private synagogue, this is totally legitimate.

But. But the kotel is not a private synagogue. It is a public space. One of the most beautiful things about the kotel is that everyone can attend, everyone can connect with God in their way. So if some people are allowed to evict other people because they do not agree with the way they are doing what they are doing, that is contrary to the whole beautiful essence of the kotel. Furthermore, it is not the job of any individual to appoint themselves judge, jury and executioner over the way in which a person chooses to connect with God.

Personally, although I see the advantages of this egalitarian section proposed by Natan Sharansky, I would be sorry to see it come into existence. Because right now, there is a section for men and a section for women. This separation enables all Jews to pray at the kotel plaza, at the same place under the same sky and same God, without divisions between one pray-er and the next. Once there would be an egalitarian section, then it would be 'us and them'. 'We' would look down on 'them', and 'they' would look down on 'us'. It would be a shame. I would rather keep us all together, with all our beautiful flaws and noise and distractions.