Woman Arrested for Wearing Tallit at Western Wall

November 19, 2009 · Filed Under Baum's Blog 

Many of you are probably familiar with the Western Wall in Israel.  But, did you know it belongs only to men?  No, no, I don’t think that.  But some Orthodox rabbis and Israeli policemen think so.

Traditional Judaism has often put women in their place (the home, of course!) and said women should not be full participants in Jewish life.  The recent issue at the Western Wall arose (once again) when a woman showed up at the wall wearing a tallit (or tallis) – a prayer shawl worn by traditional Jews while praying.

While men wear tallises and read from the Torah at the Kotel (Western Wall) regularly, there are rabbis who argue that women should not be allowed to do the same.  So, on Wednesday morning when a young medical student was visiting the Western Wall with “Women of the Wall,” a group which has a monthly Rosh Hodesh (new month) meeting at the Wall, this woman was arrested.

This comes on the heels of Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovich (of the Western Wall Heritage Fund) deciding recently that during ceremonies near the Western Wall welcoming new immigrants to Israel, men and women should sit separately – and women should not be allowed to speak from the podium.

And on the heels of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Israel’s chief Sepharic rabbi said recently that women in the feminist movement are “stupid.”

So, there you have it.  Some Orthodox men think the Western Wall belongs only to men.  They believe women should not be heard.  They believe women should not be equals.  They believe they can arrest someone for wearing a ritual prayer object – because she is a woman.

I am appalled by this gender inequality.  I am particularly concerned that these are not just the beliefs of some quiet rabbis – but that police have actually arrested a woman for praying at the wall wearing a tallit.

Next time I go to Israel, I just may pack a tallit and head to the Wall…

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Comments

4 Responses to “Woman Arrested for Wearing Tallit at Western Wall”

  1. Ben Zion Van Sickel Says:
    November 20th, 2009 at 12:24 pm

    Bravo, Rabbi Laura. The goofiness of (some of) the Orthodox always surprises me, since I think that one of the proudest achievements of Jewish history is that it’s FILLED with awesome, powerful, independent women. Make sure to pack that Tallit on your next trip!

  2. tmana Says:
    November 20th, 2009 at 4:35 pm

    The issue with women wearing talliths goes back to the Biblical injunctions against cross-dressing. The separation of genders during prayer seems to be more about keeping men’s minds on prayer and not on the women; however, the segregation of women also has to do with our ritual “uncleanness” during our cycle and the week following it.

  3. Pat Chambers Says:
    November 20th, 2009 at 6:15 pm

    I don’t agree with the view of women can’t wear tallit, but I’m not sure how to pressure the Orthodox in Israel to change this view. Any suggestions?

  4. Joel Katz Says:
    November 21st, 2009 at 8:00 am

    Check out these 2 photos:

    Opening the new Women of the Wall Torah scroll at the Kotel: http://twitpic.com/pz4rs

    Nofrat Frenkel leaving police custody wearing talit holding Torah scroll after being held for two and a half hours: http://twitpic.com/q3eaz

    For more on this issue and other issues of religion and state in Israel, please visit http://religionandstateinisrael.blogspot.com/ and http://twitter.com/religion_state

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