By Hallel Abramowitz-Silverman, October 2013
My connection to God was strengthened at a Women of the Wall support service in NY last March. There were over 300 people. Some didn’t even personally understand women who chose to wear tallitot, but believed in religious freedom for all – not just those who agreed with them. Seeing all these people who didn’t even know us personally, and some who have never been to the Kotel, care so much for this issue was incredible. I had an aliya that day, and when I called out Barchu et Adonai hamvorach, and the congregation responded, Baruch Adonai Hamvorach Leolam va’ed, my heart expanded. It was the most honest and vulnerable prayer of my life.
I am sad that I have not had this amazing kind of connection at the Kotel yet. When I am there my awe of God is clouded by my fear of violence. Israel needs to step up and stop enabling the Ultra-Orthodox. If one is not pushed to give back to its country, work for a living and think about anyone outside of his / her community, then how can we possibly expect s/he magically knows how to compromise? The Ultra-Orthodox are not the core problem of this issue. We are, the government is, and our country that has been enabling this kind of behaviors is. Like anyone who has been enabled, there is Haredi panic and anger, and in their case violence, at the prospect of losing the safety of their bubbled life. But Judaism belongs to every Jew, and every Jew must stand up and engage, despite threats from the entitled few.
In NY on Rosh Hodesh, surrounded by people who whole-heartedly supported what I have been fighting for month after month was an incredible feeling. One that I’m not used to on Rosh Chodesh. There was not one part of me that was scared, not a bone in me that wasn’t connected to God. It will be a blessing when I can call out God’s blessedness as openly and freely in Jerusalem as I can in New York.
Hallel Abramowitz-Silverman can be followed on twitter @purplelettuce95.
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