Women of the Wall

I woke up a bit earlier than usual this morning to go pray at the Kotel with my roommates, classmates, and an organization called Women of the Wall. On the first day of every Jewish month, this organization gathers together at the Western Wall to pray together as a community. For those of you who have never been to Israel or don't know much about the laws of the Kotel, basically there is no equality between men and women. Not only are the men and women separate, but the men have a huge space and the women side is tiny and crowded. Women are not allowed to wear tallitot or read from the Torah, and the list goes on.

A few months ago, a woman was arrested for wearing a tallit at the wall and carrying a Torah. Women of the wall agrees to follow the laws of the Kotel and therefore reads Torah at another location further down the wall.

Almost everyone was wearing a tallis today. On the men side, the ultra-orthodox, were screaming and yelling things to the women calling us "whores" and telling us that we were christian. Some even went as far as to call us "Nazis". On the women side the old orthodox women said similar things. As one of the women was yelling at us, her teeth fell out, ironic? I think not!

I'm still not quite sure how I feel about the kotel, as I've never really found a connection. I'm also not sure what I think about women of the wall and the pain I felt being yelled at by our own people. But what I am sure of, is this is not the way I want things to remain. And so, next Rosh Chodesh, I will be back at the Kotel once again as part of this push to show that I love Judaism as much as the Orthodox men do.