February 2012
A couple of years ago two congregations in Maryland, including one of three congregations I serve as rabbi, Hevrat Shalom, had a magnificent evening and Shabbat. Women Chefs of Beit Shemesh, Israel were in our community and cooked a magnificent collection of cuisines from their native countries including Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, and Iraq. Recently in the news we have seen stories about Beit Shemesh and of how Haredi – Ultra Orthodox Jews in Israel have been harassing women on the street when the men or young men think that they are dressed immodestly. In a recent shocking event publicized around the world, an eight year old girl was spat upon by a group of men and Yeshiva students, because they thought she was not dressed modestly enough.
Naama Margolese is a shy second grader who was called derogatory names and spat upon when she was walking to school. She continued to walk to school crying, and as a result parents are now escorting their children to school in the area of Beit Shemesh where there is a large neighboring community of Hareidim.
The people of Beit Shemesh claim that the group is trying to encroach on their community, which is a religious community as well. The storm this has set off in Israel has created a tremendous backlash against the ultra Orthodox in a mostly secular Israel. While the Haredim make up about 10% of the population, the public mood, including Orthodox groups, has been boiling over similar incidents and the government of Israel’s unwillingness to address or even recognize that they have a problem.
The good news is that thousands of Israelis rallied against this behavior, and over 10,000 Israelis have joined a Face-Book page dedicated to protecting little Naama. A caption of a photo indicated that Israelis felt that the ‘Iranian Bomb’ has already landed in Israel in the form the ‘Taliban like’ Haredim.
Other incidents which have recently been in the news include the fact that Israel has special buses for the Orthodox community where the seating is separate yet, the women have to sit in the back. Israel has its very own orthodox Rosa Parks who insisted on sitting in the front of the bus. Tanya Rosenblit declared that the Haredim are not evil, but that this is a social and educational problem. Egged bus spokesman said that it is a voluntary policy that allows for separation on the bus, and that when the Haredi man who was insisting that she moved was confronted by police , he left the bus.
It would seem to any sane individual that the secular government of Israel needs to punish such extremist behavior, such as delaying the bus or hurling insults in public by subjecting the individual to civil suit and possible criminal charges for assault as in the case of spitting at Naama. Gender discrimination should be an criminal offense in Israel.
When we look back at the last two hundred years of Jewish life around the world, we see the remarkable modernization which took place gradually beginning with the end of the Ghetto in may European nations, the American Revolution, and the Napoleonic Code. We know that the beginnings of the Reform Movement in Germany and Austria ended many restrictions which were accepted in worship.
The Reform Movement ended the separation of the men and women in the pews, but at the same time it was not until the last part of the 20th century that women were accepted as Rabbis and Cantors. In the 19th Century the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation instituted Confirmation for Women and allowed them to sing in a choir and mixed voice choir. This was too much for traditionalists who marched out and formed the Chizuk Amunah Congregation. One hundred years later Chizuk Amunah had mixed voices in their choir and mixed seating in their now Conservative affiliated congregation.
We know that women were not allowed to even stand on the Bimah in most congregations, no less not lead a service. Even Orthodoxy has made some compromises. For example, in some congregations an all women’s service will allow a girl to carry the Torah, read from it and recite a D’var Torah ( a commentary and explanation of the text). In other congregations, for many years, they have Bat Mitzvah on Friday evening with a Haftorah and D’var Torah recited from the ground level rather than the Bimah.
The Cairo Geniza, that treasure trove of Jewish documents and scraps of paper going back 1200 hundred years gives us a different picture of the role of women in Jewish society.
“Women were engaged in remunerative labor and in many cases were able to keep the profits for themselves. Textile work – embroidery, spinning, weaving, and dying silk – was their main field, but they were also active as doctors…midwives…astrologers…brokers engaged in the sale of products of other women’s work, and dressers for brides for weddings and women’s corpses for funerals.”
We know that in contrast to this there are many problems in traditional Jewish law with regard to women. An example of this is that a man issues a get – a paper of Jewish Divorce which has no equivalent for the woman, thus placing the psychological burden upon the woman.
Another example is that in traditional Judaism women cannot serve as witness for a Ketubah or any document. The Reform Movement has done away with this and most Reform rabbis accept the civil divorce without issuing a Get.
Another issue was that women could not serve as Rabbis or Cantors because traditional Judaism viewed this as a man’s obligation which only a man could fulfill. A woman was exempt from this so that she could care for her family and her children without being required to study or pray at services.
In spite of this we find that throughout our history Jewish women gave voice to our prayers, to our moments of joy and celebration, such as the song of Miriam in the Book of Exodus, or the Song of Deborah, a battle hymn of gratitude to God for victory written by one of the Judges.
From an orthodox women’s prayer we read a prayer to remind our Haredi co-religionists of God’s love in the prayer of a young girl:
“God Who is good – You attend to all the needs of Your creatures; faithful Father, all of your creations take refuge under Your wings. You have called me, too, Your daughter; to me too, You extend Your love – an Eternal love.”
As we think of Naama and Naomi let us speak up to everyone we know that demeaning treatment of women, threatening them, oppressing them, is against what we believe as a people, as Jewish people, and as human beings. We should demand that secular law make it illegal to make women afraid and that the full force of the law should be used against those who harass women while pretending that it is a Jewish law or custom. We pray for a day in Israel when a young woman can be Bat Mitzvah at the Western Wall.
“And Miriam chanted, Sing unto the Lord for He has triumphed gloriously, Horse and Driver He has hurled into the Sea!”