Women of the Wall

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The latest buzz in religious and reform circles is WOW…Women of the Wall. These are the women and their organization that have been trying to openly pray at the Western Wall while donning talis and tefillin, reading publicly from the Torah, etc. They are in direct opposition by certain ultra religious Jews who don’t want them marring thousands of years of standards and unfortunately the two groups are not too pleased, to say the least, with one another. Too bad. I’m sure the ultra religious are afraid that after WOW, there might be other groups as well and then create a house of falling cards. In addition it appears as if part of WOWs agenda is to “save the oppressed Charedi (religious) women,” and tear down the mechitza (divider between the men and women's sections). Problem is, the Charedi women are pretty happy about their mechitza and thus W4W (Women for the Wall) has been formed by observing women to let WOW know that. 

Anyway, all the WOW and W4W has got me thinking. I was just in Israel and spent much time at the Western Wall. It seems to me a pretty happening place and I just absolutely love the solitude you can feel amongst hundreds of men and women of all different walks and faiths. I am always happy to be sitting amongst the original WOW (Women of the Wig). It feels great to be a part of all these spiritual ladies. It is pretty awesome. I had a lady come up and offer me some fresh herbs when I was there. I said the blessing and then she took her herbs onto someone else. I’m pretty sure they were legal. You just don’t get that everywhere. And then there are those birds. Surely they’re reincarnated souls. Why else would they be hanging on a wall of stone? I just wonder if the girl birds are on the women’s side? It’s really cool to be outside, yet at a “synagogue.” You can have a conversation with G-d, pray your heart out and no one cares about your personal level of observance or whether you observe at all. I’ve seen women crying their hearts out and stuffing little pieces of paper (notes to G-d). I would hate to loose that there. I hope all the WOW and W4W doesn’t mess that up. 

It doesn’t matter to me if women want to don a tallis or a wig. Personally, I don’t have the need for all the manly items, although I do think the purple ones are very pretty. You see I don’t really like to rock the boat with these issues and I wouldn’t go into someone’s synagogue and tell them how to worship. It’s really a waste of my feminine energy. I no more want to don a tallis or tefillin then I want to wear a tie or suit. But that’s just my personal preference. There are plenty of women who want to and who do. And they need to let everyone know that. The problem with the wall is that everyone thinks its theirs. In some ways it is. In the end it’s going to be only one way and the Almighty is going to have the say. I respect people who peacefully stand up for what they believe. There are times I wish I had that drive, but I prefer to do so through my fingers. So, I’m not a WOW, but if you flip WOW around you get: MOM. I am a MOM and that is something I will stand up for. MOM’s know exactly what they stand for. We don’t need a campaign.