New Pioneers of Israel - Reform Judaism

About | Submissions | Contact

topics

Torah

Defining Reform

Jewish History

Jewish Living

Community

Social Action

Israel/World

Holidays

Shabbat

Lifecycle

Youth & Family

College Life

Books

BOOKS & MUSIC

Inside Intermarriage:
A Christian Partner's Perspective on Raising a Jewish Family
by Jim Keen
(URJ Press)

The Torah: A Women's Commentary
(URJ Press)

Union for Reform Judaism

New Pioneers of Israel
June 13, 2008
Holidays | Israel | Lifecycle (2 comments)

By Rabbi Stacey Blank
In Israel, even in Reform synagogues, most of the kids who have an aliyah to the Torah when they turn 13 are boys. There are very few girls. It is still not common for girls to have an aliyah to the Torah in Israel (though everyone has a party!). In a country where women fought side-by-side the men in the 1948 War of Independence, where women hold important positions in government, and where women run major corporations, it is hard to believe that girls by and large are not encouraged to enter the religious sphere.

Therefore, on the morning of Shavuot, when over 150 people crowded into the auditorium of Congregation Darchei Noam in Ramat HaSharon to witness a "class bat mitzvah" of 14 girls from a local school, this was a special event. For many of the guests, it was their first time in a synagogue. (Many asked which book was the prayer book and which book was the Torah). For most of the guests, it was certainly the first time that they saw a woman on the bima.

In pairs, each girl had an aliyah to the Torah and read about the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai in front of their parents, grandparents, and the boys from their class who came to cheer them on. Members of our congregation held a talit over their heads as they recited the prayers. All the parents came up to the bima to bless their daughters and at the end, there were hugs and kisses and lots of tears! When I blessed the girls, I spoke to them about how they performed these mitzvot in a way that shows how natural it is for women to read from the Torah and participate fully in Jewish religious life. On the other hand, we are witnesses to their pioneering spirit and they will pave the way for thousands of girls in Israel.

It was truly a joyous Shavuot in Ramat HaSharon filled with Torah and ruach Elohim, God's presence. It proved once again that we as the Reform Movement have a mission in Israel and we have a huge potential audience who are hungry for our message of equality, Jewish renewal, and tikkun olam.

Rabbi Stacey Blank serves as the rabbi of Congregation Darchei Noam in Ramat HaSharon, Israel

Tags: B'nei Mitzvah, Women

Comment

Comments

Joseph said:

Israel also elected a woman PM and might elect another within a year.

June 16, 2008 3:04 PM

M. B. said:

Jews in America and throughout the Disspora sometimes wonder if Reform Judaism is really needed in Israel like it is in the rest of the world, for the primary innovation of the Jewish Reformation was to translate the services and the Bible so that everyone could understand it, not just the few fluent in Hebrew. But we should never forget that one of the two founding leaders of Reform Judaism was Ms. Penna Moise of Charleston, SC, the brilliant poet and lay leader who was instrumental in drafting the first Reform hymns and prayers. Reform has elevated the status of women and given them an equal role in Judaism. It has brought them down from the old balcony behind the screens and into family seating. It has taken advantage of their leadership skills as rabbis and temple leaders. It has bestowed the honors to which women are so rightly entitled in the modern world. We in America, the center of the Jewish Reformation, and the greatest Jewish community in our history, have an obligation to spread these progressive ideals and practices to Israel and throughout the world.

July 3, 2008 5:21 PM