On December 1, 1988, a group of about seventyfive Israeli, American, and Canadian women had a life-altering experience at the Kotel, the reverberations of which are with us still. We were attending the American Jewish Congress’s International Conference for the Empowerment of Jewish Women. I was invited to speak about Orthodox women’s prayer groups, which were then considered to be cutting-edge, radical feminist groups. Instead of lecturing about them, I decided to organize a women’s group prayer service, complete with Torah reading, at the Kotel. Thus began a wonderful journey into the heart of feminine spirituality.
Legend has it that the Shekhinah, God’s immanent presence, journeyed with the people of Israel through our long years of exile and returned with us to the Land of Israel, where we became an independent nation once again. On that historic December day, we, Jewish women, proudly celebrated our own return from centuries of exile, of being distanced from the center of religious life, by reclaiming our share in Torah, communal prayer, and religious leadership.
Our group was diverse, the service led by women from every Jewish denominational stream. The mystical experience we were privileged to encounter at that site, holy to so many, has been beautifully described by some of the participants in Women of the Wall: Claiming Sacred Ground at Judaism’s Holy Site, edited by Phyllis Chesler and me (Jewish Lights Publishing, 2003). Since that day, almost twenty-four years ago, the struggle for women’s rights at the Kotel has continued. Anat Hoffman, who participated in that first historic service, assumed a leadership position and has ably led the group to this day.
Support from Diaspora Women, but an Israeli Identity
It is miraculous that Women of the Wall (WOW), embattled from the first and continually facing formidable obstacles, has endured and grown stronger. At first, the help of Diaspora women was crucial. In 1989, we formed the International Committee for Women of the Wall and purchased a Torah scroll from donations generously sent by hundreds who wished to support the group. We raised monies to hire security guards, which were necessary to protect the women from Hareidi violence, as, sadly, the State of Israel failed to protect them. We raised money for three Israeli Supreme Court lawsuits, which ultimately failed to win religious freedom for women at that holy site.
We participated in all the major decisions that arose, including the most difficult—how to maintain focus, kavvanah, when being attacked verbally and physically, and how to maintain the group as halakhic while welcoming all Jewish women, without denying anyone the ability to pray according to her custom. Throughout it all, the group has sustained itself as a united prayer community, and no rival group has arisen—surely an amazing phenomenon in itself.
WOW has now come of age. Although it was formed by a Diaspora initiative, and initially sustained financially by Diaspora dollars, it has now attained independence from the Diaspora and has become a truly Israeli group. The International Committee for Women of the Wall has officially disbanded. Those of us who were in the original group maintain direct contact as board members, receive monthly reports and information over the Internet, and are still called on for advice when problems arise. After women were recently arrested for wearing tallitot at the Kotel, a group of us went to the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., as representatives of Women of the Wall. We met with Ambassador Michael Oren, to discuss the incident and to advocate for the group. Our meeting proved to him that many Diaspora women are deeply concerned about Women of the Wall and are dismayed at the recent events. Our discussion was frank, and Oren’s advice was useful.
However, despite the strong Diaspora connection, the group now functions as a completely independent Israeli entity. The best example of its Israeli identity is that WOW recently published its own prayer book: Women of the Wall: Siddur L’Rosh Hodesh. This wonderful siddur contains prayers and directions in both Hebrew and English, and is used exclusively at the Kotel. The liturgy is grammatically correct for recitation by women and adaptable for different halakhic options. For example, for the recitation of the Kedushah prayer, the siddur allows the prayer leader to choose liturgical language that she is most comfortable with, stating, “We lovingly enable each other to praise the Creator, each according to her belief.” Though far from perfect and not yet acceptable to all participating women, the siddur represents a significant development in WOW’s ability to deal creatively and tolerantly with the dilemma that has plagued us from the beginning—how best to accommodate everyone’s religious needs.
Violence against Women at Prayer
When WOW began to conduct services for women at the Kotel, violence against the praying women immediately ensued. Virtually the entire Jewish religious and secular worlds ignored the terrible fact that Jewish women were being physically attacked at the Kotel for praying together. Secular Israelis did not appreciate the importance of the struggle, not caring in the least about the Kotel or about women being permitted to pray together there. The non-Orthodox world considered WOW to be an Orthodox group, because, despite their fighting for the right to read Torah and to wear tallitot, they did not constitute themselves as a minyan.
The Orthodox world, shockingly, also did not care. Only a few Orthodox rabbis condemned the violence against women at that holy site. Rabbi Rene Samuel Sirat, former chief rabbi of France, spoke out strongly in favor of WOW. Rabbi Avi Weiss of Riverdale wrote a letter condemning the violence against the women of WOW. Recently, Rabbi Shmuel Hertzfeld of Washington, D.C. has strongly supported WOW and condemned the arrests of Anat Hoffman and Nofrat Fraenkel, who were arrested for violating the law by wearing tallitot at the Kotel.
Orthodox women’s groups have not shown WOW much support, however, and Orthodox women have not attended the monthly Rosh Hodesh services in large numbers. Perhaps this is because they meet early in the morning; perhaps because they risk possible physical danger every time they pray; perhaps because the group has been wrongly perceived as a politically driven group and not a religious one. Whatever the reasons, Orthodox support has been minimal.
Interestingly, tellingly, the small cohort of Orthodox women who have been active on behalf of agunot, myself included, have also been major supporters of WOW. It has always been clear to us that women’s issues are connected. Women’s active participation in learning, in prayer, and women’s freedom to exit failed marriages are all at risk. Success in one area has an impact on the success of the others.
Recent events in the Israeli street have proven that WOW’s cause is vital for a democratic and free State of Israel. Perhaps if WOW had received the support it needed and deserved, if WOW had won its legal struggle and attained the right to pray together, read Torah, and wear tallitot (referred to by WOW as “The Three T’s”), if Hareidi violence against women at the Kotel had been condemned and stopped instead of being permitted to grow, the world would have been spared the sights of little girls being spat upon, of women’s images on ads and posters being eliminated, and of women being sent to the back of the bus. Permitting a small of group of women to be targets of serious violence, of having metal chairs thrown over the mehitza at them, of having diapers filled with fecal matter hurled at them, of hearing profoundly disturbing curses screamed at them every time they prayed for twenty-three years, opened the door to escalating abuses against women. We are now paying the price for ignoring Hareidi violence at the Kotel, for denying women their rights at the Kotel, because their manner of prayer “offends the sensibilities of the worshippers,” as the Supreme Court’s decision stated.
Recently I heard Rabbi Shlomo Riskin say that he would agree to have the Temple Mount internationalized as long as a synagogue built on the Mount would be allowed. Should that dream ever become reality, Jewish women will be able to claim their rightful space in such a synagogue because of the persistence and courage of the Women of the Wall.