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    Union for Reform Judaism

    Rabbi Yoffie on Women of the Wall
    January 25, 2010
    Israel (5 comments)

    Rabbi Eric Yoffie, President of the Union for Reform Judaism, had an op-ed published last week in the San Francisco Bay Area's J Weekly, titled "At the Wall, which side is the right one?: The Kotel belongs to the entire Jewish people." In it, he addresses the controversy surrounding the Women of the Wall, including the 2009 arrest of Nofrat Frenkel for wearing a prayer shawl at the Kotel, as well as the recent interrogation of Anat Hoffman, Director of the Israel Religious Action Center, for her leadership of the monthly women's prayer group. Rabbi Yoffie writes:

    Why turn [the Kotel] into a source of division? Why should the Wall be an ultra-Orthodox synagogue rather than a place that belongs to us all -- a place where all Jews can find space to pray, to gather, and to celebrate the Jewish homeland and the Jewish people?

    Twenty years ago I proposed a solution to the problem of access to the Wall, and it remains the best answer. There is ample room to divide the Wall into three areas: one for men to pray according to Orthodox custom; one for women to pray according to Orthodox custom; and one for non-Orthodox prayer and secular and civil ceremonies of various kinds.
    He goes on to say that the "Robinson's Arch solution," which permits non-Orthodox Jews to pray at an archaeological site at a distance from the Wall, is no solution at all; he goes on to dismiss the idea that permitting Reform and Conservative Jews to pray at the Kotel could lead to chanting by visiting Catholics or Buddhists. Finally, Rabbi Yoffie writes:

    And since there is not a single, universally accepted religious standard that governs Jewish religious life, we should make no attempt to impose one at the Kotel. What we need, rather, is to be respectful of each other's choices and customs.
    You can learn more about the Women of the Wall controversy at urj.org/israel/wow, and then listen to a recording of Anat Hoffman speaking about the Women of the Wall (albeit before her interrogation).

    What do you think of the Women of the Wall controversy? What should be done? Is there any solution in sight?

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    Comments

    Rich said:

    If we ask only for what we want - we'll be lucky to get anything.

    How about we ask for a completely desgregated Kotel with no Mechitza, and then "settle" for R. Yoffie's tripartite solution.

    Oh, and Yesher Koach to R. Yoffie on his Op Ed piece.
    February 1, 2010 2:59 PM
    Elisheva Levin said:

    I find it ironic that although we Jews have complete religious liberty in the United States, there is no access to that birthright in Israel.
    Why do the orthodox still have rule over the religious life of millions of Jews in Israel? Their form of Judaism is no older than ours, no deeper than ours, and no more representative of Yiddishkeit than ours. No wonder the majority of Jews in Israel are secular. These orthodox tyrants are no better than the mullahs of Islam--they are about power and control and they desire to suppress the legitimate spiritual longings of women.

    February 3, 2010 10:53 AM
    sarah gold said:

    Good grief! (as Charlie Brown might say)
    We Jews seem to be further and further from any sort of consistency (much less respect) as related to practices based on beliefs. Actually, inconsistency and general "goofiness" currently seems to reign supreme in the Reform movement, so we really can't point fingers, i.e.: congregations/rabbis who allow children of non-Jewish and non-converted mothers to be bar/bat mitvah, but, will not allow the same mothers to say the b'rucha over Shabbat candles. At any rate, dear ones, Rabbi Yoffie's suggestion is not only the best one, but the one that makes the best sense (as in common and halachic). Thus, it is almost sure to be ignored! When has it ever been easy to be a Jew?
    (I admit chronic long-windedness...To answer "yes" or "no" without creating a whole new commentary?
    Sarah G.

    February 9, 2010 1:27 PM
    Hineni said:

    The Reform practice of allowing children who are being raised Jewish to have bnai mitzvah is totally consistent with the principle of patrilineal descent, and not goofy at all. Ephraim and Menasha, in whose names we bless our sons, were the Jewish sons of a non-converted Egyptian, and Moses's wife was the daughter of a gentile priest.

    It would be goofy, however, to allow someone who has not accepted the commandments to talk from the bimah about being commanded to kindle the lights of Shabbat.

    So sarah gold may be right about the wisdom of Rabbi Yoffie's proposal for the Kotel, but she's not right about much else.
    February 9, 2010 5:04 PM
    C.B. said:

    This is a little off the subject, but our Reform views of women are noted by the outside world. My son's scout troop meets at the local Lutheran Church. It is a fairly liberal congregation with a young, female pastor. She told me that at the seminary, they studied about Sally Priesand and the Synod was influenced by her to start ordaining women. Their POV was that if the Jews, who have the oldest religion can do it, it must be OK!
    April 16, 2010 9:15 AM

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