Israel Makes it Hard to be a Zionist

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Israel Makes it Hard to be a Zionist
December 18, 2009
Israel (12 comments)

by Olivia Cohen-Cutler and dcc

In September of this year, Jay Michaelson wrote an essay for The Forward about why his love for Israel was waning because he was tired of constantly being forced to defend her. Most of his essay was focused on the fact that it is hard to defend a state that fights rock-throwing kids with tanks. We all know that isn't the whole story, but as Michaelson explains, that is what most people see, and therefore, that is the burden those who support Israel must bear.

It seems like he missed a major reason why liberal Jews have trouble supporting this State. Not only are there glaring international problems with Israel's approach to fighting its wars, its increasingly fundamentalist cultural stands make it harder and harder for liberal Jews to identify with the State of Israel.

Last month, 25 year-old medical student Nofrat Frenkel was arrested at Judaism's holiest site, the Western Wall, for the "crime" of leading a Torah service and wearing a tallit for the Rosh Chodesh group "Women of the Wall." Her offense, according to the police, was "performing a religious act that offends the feelings of others."

Now if Israel wants to start incarcerating offensive religious leaders for their actions, there is a list a mile long of people primed for long-term imprisonment. Regrettably, however, we know that isn't the case.

What really happened was that the religious establishment doesn't like women doing anything outside of what they are told is acceptable by said religious establishment.

If it were only at religious places, this would be offensive enough, and something we could at least try to combat with singing and prayer and other such religious actions. But this discrimination goes much further into Israeli society.

In less than a month the Israeli Minister of Transportation will choose to either support modern norms of equality or codify antiquated notions of sexism. The ultra-Orthodox in Israel have demanded that government-funded buses require women to sit in the back of the bus in some neighborhoods. Incredibly, this misguided action has been going on for a while; there are horrific stories about how women are treated if they do not move to the back when a man boards the bus.

There are campaigns to stop this activity in Israel but how can we be sure civilized voices will prevail? Sadly, we cannot be sure.

For years, progressive Judaism has been subjugated in Israel. What isn't exactly in sync with Chief Rabbis' pronouncements simply is considered "Not Jewish." Women live as second class citizens in the eyes of the religious establishment. What is worse is that the secular Israeli community doesn't seem to care so much what the Haredim do in their own world. The fight against the regressive edicts from the government-supported religious establishment comes from noble non-profits that receive most of their support and membership from the United States. A vast majority of Israeli society doesn't care about the same things as a vast majority of American Jews do; clearly, we live in completely different worlds.

This is at the core of why we have trouble wholeheartedly supporting Israel.

Israel should defend itself against attack. Israel should support international laws and abide by its treaties. We both support Israel's right to exist as a Jewish and democratic state, but the laws on the books that treat women like it is 1209 instead of 2009 make it hard for us to believe that this state is living up to its Jewish, let alone its democratic, values.

Now there are those in our Movement who will say this is a Zionist point of view. We disagree. This is our point of view. We are engaged with the Jewish community and have deeply cared about Israel. But ultimately we have come to the realization that our community doesn't persecute women for their beliefs nor does it allow its government to enact laws that limit the free movement and assembly of women, men or anyone else.

This is why we have a hard time supporting Israel and why Israel makes it hard to be a Zionist.

Olivia is the chair of the MorningStar Commission, founded by Hadassh, a member of the board of directors for the Jewish Women's Archive and dcc's mother. She instilled in him at an early age that women have the same rights as men.

Tags: Israel, Orthodox, social justice, Women, Women of the Wall, Zionism

Comment

Comments

Marcia said:

I am horrified to know that in this day and age, women are still considered second class citizens in areas of Israel. To be told one must sit at the back of the bus appauls me! Really!!! In 2009!! To arrest a woman for leading a religious service in one of the most sacred and holy place...I am mortified.

This article was articulately written and I thoroughly agree with the author's thoughts and views. These issues are so embarrassing to me both as a woman and a Jew.

December 18, 2009 3:55 PM

Larry Kaufman said:

As someone who has been a financial supporter of the Israel Religious Action Center since it was founded, I share the Cohen-Cutlers' distress about the inequities women face, and Progressive Jews face, in an Israel held captive at some level by a political system that favors the Orthodox minority. (I might point out that the American political system is currently captive to an Orthodox minority of one, the senator from Big Insurance. But I don't turn against my country because it has its flaws.)

But discomfort with the conduct of government in the State of Israel should be expressed as just that -- discomfort with the conduct of the government -- and should not be turned into a diatribe against Zionism.

Zionism from its beginnings in the late nineteenth century has had a relatively simple meaning, perhaps easier to define than to achieve: the belief that the Jewish people is entitled to political sovereignty in its historic homeland. The fact that a transitory government misuses its sovereignty should not cause us to retreat from that basic belief...nor our Reform Zionist corollary belief that our state should be an or lagoyim, a light to the nations, in its fulfillment of the prophetic values.

Unfortunately, we don't have a way to protect the word Zionism from mis-definition (any more than we can protect ourselves from those that subvert Reform Judaism by using the term to mean abstinence from any kind of Jewish practice).

So, OCC and dcc, I'll concede that your hearts are in the right place, but object to the vocabulary with which you describe your sentiments.

December 18, 2009 5:01 PM

Anonymous said:

I am someone who has supported Israel all my life, and I agree with Larry, in that it is the duty of a Jew (no matter what denomination) to defend Israel. Israel is the homeland of the Jews, and we cannot turn our backs on it just because of this.

Additionally, I have to disagree with the author's views on the woman at the Kotel. The woman was arrested because she was at the Kotel praying wrapped in a tallit and reading Torah. As she was at the Kotel, there is a mechitza, a wall between the men's side and the women's side. There is another location where that woman could have prayed and read Torah right around the corner, legally, at the Southern Wall. I personally think that she was trying to cause this reaction so that people would be offended. It is inappropriate for a woman to be wrapped in a Tallit and reading Torah at the Kotel. Also, contrary to popular belief, that is NOT why the woman was arrested. The guard on duty in the women's side of the Kotel asked her to desist, and she refused. She was causing a scene, and was therefore arrested. The underlying cause was the fact that she was wearing a tallit and reading Torah, however the reason why she was arrested was because she was starting a scene at the Kotel. This woman was doing something inappropriate and making others feel uncomfortable, and quite frankly, she must have known that there were other places where she could have read Torah and worn a tallit legally.

Israel is the only Jewish State. The majority of the Jews living there are either Orthodox or non-practicing. Israel cannot "water-down" the Jewish religion, for if it keeps getting reduced and the commandments that are followed keep getting reduced, then there will be no Jewish religion anymore. Israel MUST keep Judaism as orthodox, or the 613 mitzvot that all Jews are supposed to follow, will just be memories.

In terms of the women in the back of the bus, it is not for segregation issues like those of the early-mid 1900s in the US, it is about religious appropriateness. As well, the majority of the women riding the buses in those areas that will require women to ride in the back are areas where the women would sit away from the men anyway. It is so that the orthodox Jews are comfortable, and I do not see anything wrong with that.

December 20, 2009 6:18 PM

Hineni said:

I'll go along with Anonymous on the idea that our support for Israel must be unconditional, which doesn't mean that our support for the policies of any incumbent government can't be tempered with criticism.

But attitudes like those expressed in the rest of Anonymous's post are certainly out of place on a Reform Judaism blog, as well as in a 21st century world.

Nonsense like "Israel MUST keep Judaism as orthodox, or the 613 mitzvot that all Jews are supposed to follow, will just be memories" fails to recognize that many of those 613 have been memories for the 2000 years since churban bayit sheni (the destruction of the second temple). Moreover, Judaism has thrived during the two hundred years since Jews have confronted modernity by not being obsessed by the ritual strictures that Orthodoxy would like to impose on all of us, so Anonymous doesn't really have to worry about saying kaddish for Judaism, even after Israel comes to its senses and protects the rights of all its minorities, not just the Charedim.

December 20, 2009 11:44 PM

BZ said:

Anonymous writes:
There is another location where that woman could have prayed and read Torah right around the corner, legally, at the Southern Wall.

The Southern Wall is only open for prayer by special appointment.

It is inappropriate for a woman to be wrapped in a Tallit and reading Torah at the Kotel. Also, contrary to popular belief, that is NOT why the woman was arrested. The guard on duty in the women's side of the Kotel asked her to desist, and she refused.

But that amounts to the same thing - why did the guard ask her to desist?

December 21, 2009 9:57 AM

Randi Thompson said:

Anonymous writes:
In terms of the women in the back of the bus, it is not for segregation issues like those of the early-mid 1900s in the US, it is about religious appropriateness. As well, the majority of the women riding the buses in those areas that will require women to ride in the back are areas where the women would sit away from the men anyway. It is so that the orthodox Jews are comfortable, and I do not see anything wrong with that.

This argument is so inane it really doesn't even need to be refuted. In 1950's Birmingham they could have made the same argument--it is exactly like that.

But, by all means, let's not make Charedi men uncomfortable. Still, I can't help but wonder what it is about all that piety that makes them so helpless in controlling their yeitzer.....

December 21, 2009 10:07 AM

dcc said:

The underlying cause was the fact that she was wearing a tallit and reading Torah, however the reason why she was arrested was because she was starting a scene at the Kotel. This woman was doing something inappropriate and making others feel uncomfortable, and quite frankly, she must have known that there were other places where she could have read Torah and worn a tallit legally.

Uh oh...a woman was doing something that made people uncomfortable! Throw her into jail.

Look, Israel has no respect the values I hold as a liberal Jew. It is hard to identify with a homeland that looks nothing like the home you would want to create for your own family.

December 21, 2009 10:42 AM

ex-Reform Jew said:

Ms. Frenkel violated Israeli law. This has nothing to do with Jewish law. If a democratically elected Knesset makes a law, and the High Court confirms the propriety of the law (as it did in this case), then it is the law of the land.

If anyone would like to change that law, vote for a different party the next time elections come around.

Regarding the busses - there are two other major players in Israel that favor gender-separate bussing on select well-traveled Charedi routes.

One is the Egged bus company. Since the vast majority of Charedim do not own cars, the bus market between Charedi centers (Jerusalem - Bnei Brak, for example) is huge.

Already, there are privately run vans that travel these routes. Egged does not want to lose all of the business it receives from the Charedim. Both Charedi men AND WOMEN prefer to sit in separate sections, to preserve modesty and avoid physical contact.

If the courts rule that these desired modesty provisions cannot exist on a public bus (even one that serves Charedim almost exclusively), then the private van lines profit at the expense of Israel's largest ground transit provider.

Another player in favor of this arrangement is the government itself. Whatever sum of money Egged stands to lose, the government will lose 16.5% of that. VAT tax is applied to every Egged bus ticket.

So it's not a few black hatters against the rest of Israel. It's the government itself and the Egged corporation against a few liberals from the U.S.

December 21, 2009 11:30 AM

David Rubin said:

Too often, segregation, even with the best of intentions, make the segregated feel second best, as if they are being separated because they are in someway impure or spoiled, and deserve to be stygmatized. Too often they get less than the best service, for reasons other than holy.

I wish Orthodox Jews would keep this in mind when separating the sexes.

December 22, 2009 10:45 PM

Dave Abbey said:

I agree with those decrying the arrest of the woman at the wall and with gender segregation on buses.

I have no sympathy for a religious establishment that supports this type of society.

December 24, 2009 4:24 PM

Anonymous said:

I'm glad my first response generated so much discussion! And I would just like to thank "ex-reform Jew" for articulating what I was trying to say. She broke the law, and that's the end of it. Maybe she thought it was a dumb law, but in any case, the place to be protesting is NOT at the Holiest site for all Jews (that being, the Kotel, or Western Wall). And I want to re-iterate the fact that the woman was not just "making people feel uncomfortable..." she was BREAKING THE LAW. It's just like saying that I think there shouldn't be a 55 MPH speed limit on the highway, I think it should be 85 MPH because I think I can drive at that speed safely. On top of that, so maybe you do have to make an appointment at the Southern Wall to daven (pray), but if it was a big group of women such as it was that took time to organize themselves to the Western Wall...none of them could've taken the time to make an appointment there?

And it is not ANYTHING like the 1950s in Birmingham, Alabama. Additionally, and this may be a bit controversial, but I don't think any man here can honestly say that he has never once had "yetzer hara" ("the evil inclination) thoughts at all in his life. It is about being comfortable, and if the vast majority of the riders on the buses that are going to BNEI-BRAK (an ultra-orthodox community) are charedim, then I don't see what the problem is. And again with the buses...it is NOT segregation, and I'm sure that all of the charedi (ultra-orthodox) women that are being separated from the men, also would like to be separated, and it's not just the men.

Also, an argument that is very often turned the other way, women are BETTER than men. People (more specifically the reform and liberal Conservative Jews) turn that around and say that the men just want the women to say that. It's not true. Women do not have the obligation to read Torah, to wrap tefillin, to daven three times a day, wear a kippah or tzitzit, all of which men do. A mitzvah is not a like "good deed", it's literally an "obligation."

January 5, 2010 6:25 PM

dcc said:

I love it when people like anon just assume that Reform Jews just don't know what the Orthodox rational is behind their subjugation of minorities and women.

Some points from your rational response:
Yup she was breaking the law...so were the rabbis arrested in Florida in the early 1960s.

Where better to address religious oppression than at the holiest of locations? Why should a group of people (one that makes up a majority of our community) have to make a reservation to do what another group can do where ever they want?

I also find it ridiculous that so-called pious men can't figure out how to keep their mind clean. And if they can't do that (which all of us have some trouble with from time to time, as you point out) why these so-called pious men can't figure out how not to act on these feelings.

The law is unjust. There is no comparison to speed limits but a pretty clear one to segregation laws. There have yet to be fire hoses, but I wouldn't put it past the Orthodox in Israel.

January 5, 2010 11:22 PM