Writing in the Jerusalem Post this week, public relations expert Laura Kam argued that the ongoing controversy over Women of the Wall is particularly harmful to Israel because it’s seen as an issue of women’s rights. I agree that Israel’s current policy unacceptably violates Women of the Wall’s rights in some respects. But there’s another group of women whose rights the organization’s overseas advocates too often overlook: the thousands of women who visit the Western Wall every day not to “see and be seen,” as Women of the Wall chairwoman Anat Hoffman shockingly described her goal, but to pour out their hearts to God.
Because much of what the organization seeks to do at the Wall in no way disrupts other people’s worship, the existing ban on these activities is unjustified. A woman wearing a tallit or carrying a Torah, for instance, doesn’t impede anyone’s prayers: If you’re there to pray, your eyes should be on your prayer book, not on what other people are wearing or carrying. Even a full women’s prayer service complete with Torah reading wouldn’t necessarily be disruptive if it were quiet, as Orthodox worship often is: At many Orthodox services, you can’t even hear the Torah reading from more than a few feet away.
But that isn’t what Women of the Wall want. What they want is to make a political statement by worshiping as loudly and publicly as possible–to “see and be seen,” in Hoffman’s words. And that most definitely is disruptive to other worshipers: It’s hard to concentrate on one set of words when someone else is chanting a different set at full volume nearby.
Indeed, even the limited activity the group is allowed to conduct at the Wall today is conducted in as loud, public and disruptive manner as possible: A New York Times article last month, for instance, described the women “dancing and singing hymns in the women’s section,” which would certainly be disruptive to other women trying to pray at the site.
Jonathan’s analysis last week of why Women of the Wall’s battle has little traction in Israel was spot-on from a political standpoint. But there’s another reason that has little to do with politics: Contrary to the myth that most Israelis are secular, a majority of Israeli Jews actually put themselves someplace on the spectrum between “traditional, but not very religious” and “ultra-Orthodox.” And even among the 42 percent that define themselves as secular, many observe certain Jewish traditions and even believe in God: A recent survey found that a whopping 80 percent of Israeli Jews overall believe in God; 66 percent light candles on Friday night; 68 percent fast on Yom Kippur; 67 percent avoid leavened bread on Passover; and so forth.
In short, most Israeli Jews respect the sincerity of those thousands of women who pray at the Wall every day even if they would never do so themselves. Consequently, they see no reason why these women’s heartfelt prayers should be disrupted by other women seeking merely to make a political statement.
If Women of the Wall were more interested in praying than politics, Israelis might be more sympathetic to their cause. But as long as their main goal is to “see and be seen,” Israelis will understandably give precedence to the rights of those women who just want to pray to God without disruption.
Total nonsense. Women should have the same rights as men at the Kotel. Period.
Evelyn, were they not impeded they would not long be loud……
True. Were they not impeded, they would quickly lose interest in 'praying' and find some other disruptive form of street theater to engage in. Perhaps holding mock brissim at the kotel in protest that only men can have bris milah.
that was a bit amusing… but the truth is that the women should simply be left alone and the the ones there to pray will remain and the demonstrators will indeeed disappear …some off to silly causes and some not.
nThis article misuses Anat Hoffman's brave words to distort Women of the Wall's mission statement, which is to gain the legal and social right for women to hold full Rosh Hodesh morning services at the Kotel in the women's section. More than half of the Rosh Hodesh service is said in complete silence or in an undertone exactly like the many other prayer services taking place simultaneously at the Kotel at 7am. Hallel is sung and danced as joyously by Women of the Wall as by any other group. Torah is read to trope probably quieter than at most Orthodox services. We are certainly not as loud as the men, even when our numbers swell above 100. We stand far away from the other women at the Kotel, many of whom are perched precariously on white plastic chairs or peeking through the mehitza in an attempt to be part of a prayer service! I have witnessed other groups dancing at the kotel, men on their side, women on ours. Who questions their motives? A family arrives to the beat of a drum and tambourines, all dressed up for their son's barmitzva, photographer in tow; Who questions their devotion to tradition or their respect for the other worshippers? When some Haredi women scream at us to be quiet during the silent Amida prayer (!) or some man throws a chair or a feces filled diaper over the mehitza at us, who writes an article calling their piety into question? Women of the Wall come to the Kotel to pray. That we insist on our civil and halachik right to pray out loud wearing tallit and tefillin and that we are ready to use political tools to achieve this goal should not put our sincerity into question.
The story about the feces filled diaper has been bandied about quite a bit but has been oft questioned and never proven. It is inconceivable that any Torah Jew would bring a feces filled diaper to the Kotel. Do you claim to have actually witnessed this incident, or are you simply repeating a smear that you have heard or read?
The whole thing is a charade. There is already a non-Orthodox section where women can do everything — pray loundly, wear a tallis, etc. What the Women of the Wall want is to impose their norms on the entire wall, including the Orthodox area. This would prevent Orthodox men from using the site. Orthodox Jews should have the freedom to worship there to, under their laws and customs as they interpret them.
I don't see how showing up 1 time per month for an hour is "imposing their norms on the entire wall". Chill out.
This article misuses Anat Hoffman's brave words to distort Women of the Wall's mission statement, which is to gain the legal and social right for women to hold full Rosh Hodesh morning services at the Kotel in the women's section. More than half of the Rosh Hodesh service is said in complete silence or in an undertone exactly like the many other prayer services taking place simultaneously at the Kotel at 7am. Hallel is sung and danced as joyously by Women of the Wall as by any other group. Torah is read to trope probably quieter than at most Orthodox services. We are certainly not as loud as the men, even when our numbers swell above 100. We stand far away from the other women at the Kotel, many of whom are perched precariously on white plastic chairs or peeking through the mehitza in an attempt to be part of a prayer service! I have witnessed other groups dancing at the kotel, men on their side, women on ours. Who questions their motives? A family arrives to the beat of a drum and tambourines, all dressed up for their son's barmitzva, photographer in tow
Your remarks are word for word the same as CBirknerMack's. Is that because you are the same person? Or because they are generated by a replybot? Or because they were pasted from some site urging people to come respond to the discussion at Commentary? Or is this simply WOW's stock reply to anyone who exposes WOW as the fraud that it is? n nDo not expect anyone to grant WOW the benefit of doubt about their sincerity until WOW does something to show that its members are motivated by a love for Torah and mitzvot and a desire to sincerely serve Hashem, rather than being a bunch of activists eager to attract attention in the service of a socio-political agenda. Certainly nothing in your canned remarks even hints at a desire for anything other than self-expression, self-indulgence and socio-political change. n nWOW's actions suggest that if WOW somehow achieved its mission statement, most of its adherents would quickly lose interest in their heartfelt desire to serve the Ribbono shel Olam by holding Rosh Chodesh services, and would move on to some other cause.
Please see my comment below about the duplicate comments. It was a technical error while posting. That is all. "Dan l'chaf zchut..".
Interesting……two commentators…..identical comments…(Rachelyeshurun and CBirknerMack)>must be a directive sent out by some of the more radical members of the non-orthodox streams.In actuality,yy27 is right. Women of the wall have the right to pray as they wish at a nearby spot-just not fully at the Kotel itself. Although halachically, there is no impediment to their actions. common sense would advise them otherwise. This is not a yearning to pray- they can already do that- this is an attempt to make a point and to break the orthodox hold on religious life in israel. They will not succeed as long as the israeli public is uninterested in the other Jewish streams.
And have you noticed that neither of them has responded to your having pointed this out?
Please see my response below. Shavua Tov!
I disagree with the writer. The issues are not as black and white as she seems to suggest. For one thing, the Kotel has not been separated for two thousand years – why now? It is not a synagogue. Second, the women’s section is substantially smaller than the men’s section, although on any given day, the women have many more women than men. Third, Israel has laws prohibiting the people from wearing clothing of the opposite sex – which includes a talit, t’fillin, etc… Many women throughout Israel wear pants; however, this is allowed. Moreover, many men wear robes that look like dresses, but this is allowed. Nonetheless, women are arrested for wearing a talit, for example. To suggest, that women only want to embrace Judaism for show disregards the years that women has been involved in Jewish religious life. The law only says that women are not bound by the positive precepts of time – not that women are prohibited.
Jane Eisner at the Jewish Daily Forward is shocked that Israelis don't find this issue too important. Anat Hoffman is a slick operator that gets her photo snapped and goes to her donors after receiving pr and proceeds to "shake the money tree".The Woman of the Wal lare sincere but also serve as "useful idiots" for collecting funds.This group is always followed by press and present a danger to female worshipers as their disrespectful actions often lead to violence.
The women are not being arrested for their loudness. In fact, if one of the other women came over and politely asked them to keep it down, they would probably respond politely or at least try to find a compromise regarding prayer times. However, the fact is, the women are being arrested for wearing a Tallit. It seems you agree that this behavior should be legal. Thank you for your support of women being able to wear whatever they wish at the Western Wall. If everyone had this opinion, this situation would never have happened. In fact, the earliest arrests were over a year ago, and with a much smaller group. Due to the arrests, more women have been coming out every month. If the arrests had not started (the charge was for carrying a Torah scroll), this probably would have stayed a small group of women, especially in the winter. It's a perfect example of something that should be a non-issue escalating beyond what anyone had anticipated.