I woke up Monday morning not knowing what to expect. Last month was very challenging and that was after the Chief Rabbi asked the Yeshiva girls to not come out to protest. This month they were asked to come and protest. So how many girls were gonna be here shouting and whistling and preventing me from focusing on my prayer? But this month we also had so many supporters from all over the world coming to the Kotel to pray with Nashot HaKotel.
I woke up Monday morning and put on my Nashot HaKotel shirt and walked to school to join my classmates and make our way over to the Kotel to join the Women of the Wall for their 25th Anniversary Rosh Hodesh service. We got there a little early, and the women's side was mostly full. And not with protestors. We made our way to the center of the crowd, donned our tallitot, some laid tefillin, and joined in the celebratory psalms of the women.
I woke up Monday morning ready to celebrate the new month of Kislev. I had been to several (i.e. two) Rosh Hodesh services before and at neither was I really able to focus on the prayer. At the first, I was just so excited to be joining this group in shacharit. I didn't have a good idea of what was going on, and really couldn't hear what was happening. Last month, there were protestors and I was more distracted by what they were doing and what was happening around me than on the words I was saying. This month I had an earpiece and could hear the entire service clearly. This month I wasn't surrounded by protestors but rather by prayers. This month was the first month I was actually able to pray.
I felt honored to be part of this group. And disappointed at the same time that this group has to exist. In such a modern world, it's frustrating to know that there is still inequality, that people do not have the same opportunities or freedoms. Probably one of the most moving parts of the service was when the empty Torah mantles were raised as a sign of what is still missing. The women are no longer arrested for wearing tallitot or laying tefillin. But they still cannot read from the Torah Scroll. Hopefully this will soon be a problem of the past.
Last week, I went with some of my friends to look at the new Robinson's Arch platform that has been proposed as a place for egalitarian prayer. And we've had several conversations about what this prayer space would do to the WoW cause. I've come to the decision that by accepting the proposal for egalitarian prayer space at Robinson's Arch, the Women of the Wall will no longer be able to lobby for the rights of women at the Kotel. I don't think WoW is looking for egalitarian prayer where men and women pray together, but rather the freedom to pray however you see fit in the current demarcated areas. Granted, I would love to see the end of the mechitza, but I'm not so confident that that will happen any time soon.
Overall, I was just very honored to be part of this amazing service surrounded by these incredible women and men.
Later that evening was the gala celebrating 25 years of Women of the Wall. My favorite speaker was Ambassador Dan Shapiro who spoke about how WoW has impacted his daughters--the older who wants to have her Bat Mitzvah at the Wall, and the younger who hopefully will wonder what all the fuss was about. Again, I was honored to be part of such a beautiful event. It was a wonderful evening celebration and happiness filled with dancing, singing, sharing stories, and meeting new people.
Kol HaKavod to Nashot HaKotel. Mazal Tov on 25 Years!
I woke up Monday morning and put on my Nashot HaKotel shirt and walked to school to join my classmates and make our way over to the Kotel to join the Women of the Wall for their 25th Anniversary Rosh Hodesh service. We got there a little early, and the women's side was mostly full. And not with protestors. We made our way to the center of the crowd, donned our tallitot, some laid tefillin, and joined in the celebratory psalms of the women.
I woke up Monday morning ready to celebrate the new month of Kislev. I had been to several (i.e. two) Rosh Hodesh services before and at neither was I really able to focus on the prayer. At the first, I was just so excited to be joining this group in shacharit. I didn't have a good idea of what was going on, and really couldn't hear what was happening. Last month, there were protestors and I was more distracted by what they were doing and what was happening around me than on the words I was saying. This month I had an earpiece and could hear the entire service clearly. This month I wasn't surrounded by protestors but rather by prayers. This month was the first month I was actually able to pray.
I felt honored to be part of this group. And disappointed at the same time that this group has to exist. In such a modern world, it's frustrating to know that there is still inequality, that people do not have the same opportunities or freedoms. Probably one of the most moving parts of the service was when the empty Torah mantles were raised as a sign of what is still missing. The women are no longer arrested for wearing tallitot or laying tefillin. But they still cannot read from the Torah Scroll. Hopefully this will soon be a problem of the past.
Last week, I went with some of my friends to look at the new Robinson's Arch platform that has been proposed as a place for egalitarian prayer. And we've had several conversations about what this prayer space would do to the WoW cause. I've come to the decision that by accepting the proposal for egalitarian prayer space at Robinson's Arch, the Women of the Wall will no longer be able to lobby for the rights of women at the Kotel. I don't think WoW is looking for egalitarian prayer where men and women pray together, but rather the freedom to pray however you see fit in the current demarcated areas. Granted, I would love to see the end of the mechitza, but I'm not so confident that that will happen any time soon.
Overall, I was just very honored to be part of this amazing service surrounded by these incredible women and men.
Later that evening was the gala celebrating 25 years of Women of the Wall. My favorite speaker was Ambassador Dan Shapiro who spoke about how WoW has impacted his daughters--the older who wants to have her Bat Mitzvah at the Wall, and the younger who hopefully will wonder what all the fuss was about. Again, I was honored to be part of such a beautiful event. It was a wonderful evening celebration and happiness filled with dancing, singing, sharing stories, and meeting new people.
Kol HaKavod to Nashot HaKotel. Mazal Tov on 25 Years!
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