Women at the Wall

This past Friday I took advantage of an opportunity to daven (pray) with a group called, Women at the Wall. They are a group of women who gather together on Rosh Chodesh (the new month celebration) to daven and read Torah at the Kotel (Western Wall or Wailing Wall). I found my experience (although not my first) to be fascinating.

We met together at 7am at the Kotel. I went with 3 classmates from Hebrew Union College. The group began davening there then went to Robinson's Arch (an excavation site at the Wall that has been opened for egalitarian services) for the Torah service and Musaf.

As this group has women davening together at the Kotel, it is controversial and many people are opposed to their practice. In the past they have been heckled, spit at, shouted at, and one women tried to steal the Torah they had brought, all of this done in the name of religion and modesty. This morning's service was only met with a bit of yelling and wide-eyed staring from those around.

Once we got to the place where we read Torah it was a very different experience. There we were a group of women, taking hold of and honoring our religion while sharing together in the warmth and energy of each other and the holiday. The first aliyah (call to the Torah to perform the blessings before and after a reading) was given to a women in a wheel chair. From where the Torah was being read she had to be lifted out of her chair and supported to be able to do the aliyah. The coming together of this group to ensure that she was an active participant in the service warmed my heart.

I was also honored with an aliyah to the Torah. To be up there, watching as one of the women the group read from the Torah with such skill and heart was quite an experience. I have heard women read from the Torah many times, but this time felt triumphant. We were empowered women who were not merely sitting back and allowing religion to pass us by. It was the same feeling I had that morning when I put on my Tallit prior to the Torah reading. In both of those moments I felt an incredible connection to all of the women present and to my Jewish religion.

Regarding the reception we received at the Kotel, I don't understand. I realize that Orthodox Judaism forbids a woman from singing and reading from the Torah, but I have trouble with the reasons why. What is so scary about a women's voice? Why does having a group of women daven together frighten so many people, other women included? How does our davening, in our location far away from the Kotel itself, effect them? It goes so far that a women who puts on a Tallit at the Kotel can be convicted of up to 7 years in prison. Why all the fear of strong, confident women?

This experience overall has worked to empower me to learn more about Judaism, push myself to explore different forms of practice and be open minded to all different approaches to Judaism. I hope to be at a point in the future where I will have the knowledge to be able to lead the davening done at the Kotel. I think it is important to not only talk about working for a change but to also be an active participant.