But Temple Beth El was my childhood synagogue, and I was happy to have a
reunion with this community. I saw Robin
Eisenberg, who is still the director of religious education at the synagogue as
when I was a child. I enjoyed Rabbi Dan Levin's oustanding introduction to Ms. Hoffman's presentation. I got a big hug from
my childhood rabbi, Merle Singer. I saw
Rabbi Dan Levin and met Rabbi Jessica Spitalnic Brockman for the first time. I also met Steven Beck, a childhood friend
who now works with Anat Hoffman at the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC). IRAC fights for religious pluralism and
against gender discrimination in Israel. I was surprised to see that Steven was not
even wearing a kippah (head covering) because I had heard that he went through
a long phase of experimentation with Orthodox Judaism. He was Orthodox for 7 years but is now secular
and lives in Tel Aviv, the secular heartland of Israel.
I listened to Ms. Hoffman’s humorous and thought-provoking
presentation. And she was amused,
surprised, and gratified when I told her that she has some followers in
Egypt. I specifically mentioned to her
that my dear friend Dr. Maikel Nabil Sanad, an Egyptian dissident, pacifist,
and pro-Israel supporter has spoken out in her defense. I want to share the following entry from
Maikel’s blog with Ms. Hoffman, which confirms his outspoken defense of
her.
>> 08 January 2011
Israel should free Anat Hoffman, the Israeli Activist who was arrested
because she prayed in front of the Wailing Wall. Israel shouldn't
let Fundamental groups affect secularism in Israel. I'm against any separation
between sexes ( in Egypt & Israel ) ... Secular activists in both nations
should unite against discrimination we face by fundamentalists.
http://www.maikelnabil.com/search?q=anat+hoffman
Maikel
is an atheist, and he opposes all forms of gender discrimination and
segregation. He also believes that
liberals and secular actiivsts in both Egypt and Israel need to unite against
fundamentalist religious fanatics. Maikel
posted this blog entry less than 3 months before the beginning of his own 10
month ordeal in prison. Maikel was
originally sentenced to 3 years in prison for challenging the military. He was released after ten months following a
4 month hunger strike during which he was in a coma twice thanks primarily to
the support of the German people and government. As a pro-Israel supporter and Egyptian peace activist, Maikel understands better than most people the links between the struggle for basic human rights in Egypt and the campaign to improve and strengthen Israel's democracy.
I
now want to address some specific elements of Ms. Hoffman’s presentation. I was outraged to hear that an Israeli radio station
refuses to hire women and to allow women, including female members of the
Knesset, to speak on the air. Such
gender discrimination is flagrant and unacceptable and needs to end
immediately.
She
also mentioned that IRAC had challenged gender segregation on public buses in
Israel. Initially I thought that gender
separation on public buses was acceptable in haredi (strictly Orthodox) areas because
it is in accordance with the customs of these communities. But once Ms. Hoffman explained how it worked
in practice, that women were literally forced to sit in the back of the bus, I
understood that this practice was humiliating, discriminatory, and
unacceptable. I am glad that IRAC has
helped to end such policies.
She
said the Women of the Wall, an organization that fights for women’s rights at
the Kotel or Western Wall, is a North American invention. The goal of Women of the Wall is to bring
American democratic principles into Jewish religious observance in Israel. Every month on Rosh Hodesh, a group of
Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform Jewish women hold a prayer service at the Kotel. They read from the Torah, receive aliyot, and
pray with tallitot (prayer shawls).
But
because the Kotel is run like an Orthodox synagogue, women are barred from
wearing a tallis, singing aloud, and reading from the Torah. And these feminist activists are
systematically harassed by Haredi Jews who throw chairs at them and by the police
who sometimes arrest them. I have mixed
feelings about the Women of the Wall. On
the one hand, I share their objection to the exclusion of women from the
Orthodox prayer service, and for this reason I tend to pray in egalitarian
Conservative synagogues. I can
understand the reasons why Haredi (traditional Orthodox) Jews object to such
prayer services even though I don’t agree with such objections.
On
the other hand, I have also spent enough time praying in Orthodox environments
that I have become accustomed to and comfortable with Orthodox prayer services. I had the opportunity to pray at the Kotel
for a few hours during my visit to Israel in 2007. I felt very much at home at the Kotel because
it reminded me of the Orthodox synagogues where I had spent many years
praying. I picked up a siddur (prayerbook)
and davened shacharit (morning prayer) and felt a deep and moving spiritual
connection to this ancient site. Touching the Wall and putting a note in the
Wall was an incredible experience that met my spiritual needs. I didn’t feel at
all persecuted, victimized, or silenced as a woman because I felt I was
visiting an Orthodox synagogue. For this reason I probably wouldn’t join the
Women of the Wall services because I don’t feel the need to pray in such a
vocal fashion at the Kotel.
But
I also listened to the stories of women at Temple Beth El who expressed deep
personal anguish about being subjected to a mechitzah (prayer divider) and
being deprived of the opportunity to participate in a vocal prayer service at
the Kotel. I understood that the
Orthodox prayer structure at the Kotel does not meet their spiritual needs
because it clashes with their deeply held belief in egalitarian prayers. I feel comfortable suspending my egalitarian
beliefs temporarily while praying at the Kotel, but many other American Reform
and Conservative Jewish women want to pray at the Kotel in the same egalitarian
fashion as they pray in their hometown synagogues. For this reason they attend mixed gender
egalitarian services at the Robinson’s Arch, and they also participate in Women
of the Wall services on the women’s side of the Kotel.
I had
to think carefully about this complicated and controversial issue. I finally concluded that I support the rights
of Women of the Wall participants to pray on the women’s side of the Kotel in
their own fashion. Such prayer services
clearly meet the deep spiritual needs of many Reform, Conservative, and
Orthodox Jewish women who want to pray vocally at the Kotel. I realized that I can support the efforts of
some of my fellow Jewish feminists even though I don’t feel comfortable participating
in them. I also am revolted by the way
that Haredi Jews violate the sanctity of the Kotel by throwing chairs over the
mechitzah at the Jewish feminists who are engaged in a sacred prayer service. And I think the police clearly should not
arrest and harass Jewish women simply for praying as such arrests are clearly a
flagrant form of gender discrimination.
I
also support Ms. Hoffman’s proposal that certain hours of the day at the Kotel
should be made available for egalitarian prayer, while other hours should be
set aside for Haredi forms of prayer. I
think such proposals are meant to create the opportunity to share the Kotel and
find such ideas intriguing and worth considering. I support Sharansky’s efforts to expand the
Robinson’s Arch for egalitarian prayer but expect that such proposals will take
many years to be implemented and face many major obstacles.
Now
I want to mention of my friend Dr. Maikel Nabil Sanad’s latest article. http://www.maikelnabil.com/2013/04/egypt-and-israel-let-your-conscientious.html. Unlike Maikel, I support conscription in
Israel. But I think conscientious
objector Natan Blanc should be offered the opportunity to participate in
national service projects such as working in a kibbutz, as a firefighter, in environmental
protection, as a medic, or as a hospital
volunteer. I think national service is
better for Mr. Blanc than prison.
I
was appalled and outraged to learn that Egyptian conscientious objectors such
as Emad Dafrawi and Mohamed Fathy are not allowed to work and study. I greatly appreciate Mr. Dafrawi’s support for
Israel and the Jews and admire Mr. Fathy’s courage in refusing to join an army
that has murdered civilians since the fall of the Mubarak regime in 2011. Employers
who dare to hire them face up to two years in prison. I have also faced systematic discrimination
in the workplace by employers who refused to hire me because of my autism. In the USA, employers are not faced with the
threat of imprisonment for hiring autistic people, but they face social
ostracism for doing so. I have been
intentionally deprived of a livelihood due to discrimination for 16 years, and
so I can empathize with the Egyptian conscientious objectors who cannot work
because of their beliefs. And I am also
appalled that these young men cannot travel or even hold a passport.
Finally,
I spoke via facebook with Maikel’s brother Mark, who told me that he is still
being denied the freedom to travel outside Egypt. http://www.nomilservice.com/2012/08/statement-administrative-judiciary.html
Mark is being harassed in part because of his leadership in the Egyptian
pacifist movement founded by his brother Maikel. And Mark is also being treated by the
Egyptian regime as a hostage, and the regime is trying to intimidate Maikel
from speaking out against them by holding his brother a hostage. International pressure is needed to demand
that the Egyptian regime immediately allow Mark his human right to travel
freely outside of Egypt and stop violating his freedom of movement.
No comments:
Post a Comment