blogs/rabbi-joshua-hoffman

Purim is behind us and the clack and clamor of groggers has faded away.   The month that began with joy - "Mi Sh'Nichnas Adar, Marbim B'simcha," or "Greet the month of Adar and gladness increases" -  will now conclude with our hearts turning toward Passover. Our ecstatic joy becomes tempered with more refined excitement. We prepare to celebrate our freedom and shoulder the burden of responsibility.

This year, these dramatic rhythms of the Jewish calendar have taken on new meaning and depth.  As I have recently shared, my journey to Kiev, Ukraine and Israel with a delegation of 32 rabbis was joyful and transformative.  I felt this most keenly when I and several of my colleagues joined the female led Rosh Hodesh minyan at the Kotel - the Western Wall.

The conclusion of the story is that 10 women were detained that morning for several hours for disobeying a law of the Wall that forbids women to wear tallitot.  Two of our delegation were among the 10, including Rabbi Robyn Fryer-Bodzin, a former teacher in our VBS Hebrew School, Youth Department and Shaare Tikvah programs.

The highlight of the entire experience, beyond the politically charged nature of this sacred assembly, was when the gathering of 300 people were collectively chanting the prayers of Hallel, where in the middle of Psalm 114, there is a poignant moment in which there is a call and response of the verses.  Organically, all the women began chanting one line and the 50 men assembled on the other side of the mechitza were responding with full voices.

Line after line our voices were in crescendo, and for a brief moment our encounter was authentically prayerful. The women were leading the most powerful assembly of Jews in the Wall plaza that entire Rosh Hodesh and the men joined in their prayer with full hearts.  I peered through the staggered grating of the separation wall and saw Anat Hoffman, the courageous leader of Nashot Kotel - Women of the Wall - smiling, serenely acknowledging that her lifetime dream is glimmering with light and hope.  There was no fear of reprisal, and even the lone man marching around the plaza screaming at the top of his lungs in protest to what was taking place could not disrupt this holy encounter. We all felt the powerful Presence as we chanted, "Tremble earth, at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the God of Jacob." We felt as if we were God of Jacob trembling the foundations of the earth in that brief moment.

So, why on earth would the Jerusalem police proceed to detain 10 women for such a sacred act of celebration?  The assembly of women in prayer isn't problematic. Even the presence of men on the opposite side of the wall separating the men and women's sections is not against traditional Jewish law, though the discomfort among the most traditionally observant Jews was palpable as we strained to hear and participate in some way with the morning prayer service.  What sparked a dramatic response from the Jerusalem police was the seemingly flagrant disobedience of a law governing the precinct of the Wall - women are not permitted to adorn themselves with a tallit, a garment reserved exclusively for men according to the strictest interpretation of Jewish law. In fact, women resorted to smuggling in their tallitot either with the help of a male courier or by tucking their tallit discreetly beneath layers of clothes. This is not the freedom our ancestors suffered to provide for us and our children!

We must tell this story, of Jews arresting Jews for attempting to offer their prayer to the same God we all share, at our seder tables this Passover.   When women cannot express themselves fully as Jews we become complicit to their subjugation.

Moses implored Pharoah to let the people go, so that they may journey to Mt. Sinai and worship our God, the God of all people.  Verse after verse, chapter after chapter, men and women, children and even those who choose to join in the sacred assembly pray as one.  We, who value a Judaism of equality, have a powerful message and the time has come to voice it.  Each of our daughters is given a tallit when they become a Bat-Mitzvah.  Are our values in line if they cannot wear that tallit wherever and whenever they feel close to God?  What message are we sending them?

We must tell this story and continue to stand proudly for the Jewish values we have championed here in North America and now in Israel.  If not us, then who will stand up for religious tolerance and freedom of expression?

And if you are so moved, I urge you to join me and other families from Valley Beth Shalom as we travel to Israel this summer and offer our joyous prayers of freedom and religious tolerance while standing in Jerusalem, along with our Israeli brothers and sisters, together with a tallit, calling out for the God of Jacob to hear us.  May we merit the wisdom and strength to listen for the loving and supportive response. 

For more infomation regarding Rabbi Joshua Hoffman's upcoming trip to Israel, please CLICK HERE to download the program flyer.  The VBS Summer Trip to Israel for Familes and First Timers is schedule for July 28 - August 9, 2013.