WOW w/ Annie

Quick 411 for those who may not be familiar: The Kotel (also called "Western Wall" or sometimes "Wailing Wall") is one of the most religiously significant sites for Jews. It is the retaining wall of the platform that held the 2nd Temple after it was reconstructed by Herod the Great in the 1st century BCE. As the largest and most tangible relic of the sacrificial cult, which was the predominant mode of Jewish worship for about a millennium, the site is an important holy site for Jews today.

Special laws apply to holy sites in Israel, including a prohibition against holding, “a religious ceremony not in accordance with local custom.” Currently, this is interpreted to exclude liberal forms of Judaism in which women where tallitot (prayer shawls) and read from a Torah scroll. Women of the Wall (Hebrew grammar nerds note the unusual pluralization:  נשות הכותל), a group that is trying to change the current law, has been holding monthly women's prayer services on the site since 1988. They wear prayer shawls and (because it's too controversial to do on site) re-locate to nearby Robinson's Arch to read from a Torah scroll. Sometimes they are subjected to violence and always disapproving looks and comments. Annie and I joined them this morning. Four women were arrested (pretty par for the course), so the group re-located for the Torah service outside the police station at the Jaffa gate where these women were being held (so the women being detained could hear them).

I could not for myself determine why certain women were arrested and others not -- it appeared to be random. It turns out that the Israeli police only recognizes tallitot that are white with black stripes as prayer shawls. Women wearing this style were arrested; women wearing more effeminate patterns were not.

A quick tour of the Israeli media coverage suggests that WOW do not, at the moment, have the sympathy of the public. Consider this and this -- two articles concerning the prayer service that Annie and I attended this morning. Here are a few pictures:

Women praying at the back of the women's section at the Kotel. In the foreground, a police officer videotapes the entire service (likely as evidence for current court case).

The women have now re-located outside the police station for the Torah service.

Police hanging out at the station, casually observing the women's service. (Outside the police station is simply public space, so the women cannot legally be asked to leave. However, they are sometimes forced to leave there as well.)

One of the women arrested went to the bathroom and peeked out of the window at the women continuing the service outside the police station.

Because it's Rosh Hodesh Elul, it is traditional to blow a shofar. Here, Anat Hoffman (a founding member of WOW) blows the shofar and expresses a wish that it will knock down the walls of the police station. (Hey, Jericho ain't that far away!)

Annie re-united with camp friend and incoming HUC student, Ari, who came out to support WOW.