Israel 2013: WoW

Before I write anything, I have to share a question my sister Shannon had about my last post, "Earth's Bellybutton"; she wanted to know if people go to the little sculpture for Lent...well it made me laugh. Ok onto today's post.

Today is Rosh Hodesh (“head of the month”)—the first of Sivan on the Jewish calendar. Each Rosh Hodesh is considered a small festival in Judaism; today was kind of a historic one here in Jerusalem. A few weeks ago I first heard about “Women of the Wall”; here is their mission statement:

“Women of the Wall, or Nashot Hakotel נשות הכותל in Hebrew, is a group of Jewish women from around the world who strive to achieve the right, as women, to wear prayer shawls, pray and read from the Torah collectively and out loud at the Western Wall (Kotel) in Jerusalem, Israel. The Western Wall is Judaism’s most sacred holy site and the principal symbol of Jewish people-hood and sovereignty, and Women of the Wall works to make it a holy site where women can pray freely.”

The group, which came into being in 1988, caught my attention when I read an article in the news that five women were arrested at the Wall for disturbing the public order by wearing prayer shawls and praying out loud. Recently, the Supreme Court ruled that they were not disturbing the peace and said that they are allowed to continue praying at the Wall, wearing their shawls, etc.

Since the service was supposed to start at 7, Amanda and I left the Student Village around 6:15, and about 20 minutes later we were about to enter the Old City by way of the Lion Gate, or St. Stephen's Gate (traditional site of the stoning of Stephen in the book of Acts). I was not prepared for what I saw; being so early in the morning, Amanda and I were one of three people on the road; this guy in the picture below was the third:

He was barefoot, carried a bible, and seemed to be praying

After getting my backpack checked at security, I was one of thousands in the plaza/Wall area, watching as hundreds of women, wearing tefillin (little boxes worn on forehead and arm, contains little scrolls from the Torah) and prayer shawls (traditionally only for use by men), celebrated Rosh Hodesh. There were also some men present in support, singing and praying with them. I was at first blocked off by the human chain the Israeli police formed right in front of me; the police officers had joined hands. A couple officers pushed me back a few times as I was pushed forward by girls behind me; I've never been in such a crowded situation. All I could think of, as we were pushing our way through the masses, was how it's always easier to get into a tight situation than it is to get out.

Once we came to a stopping point, I realized we were so tightly packed that I was unable to reach around and put my phone in my back pocket; someone was pressed up against it. Needless to say, today’s gathering sparked outrage, which is already being covered by international media. The Ultra-Orthodox community was in an uproar, and I was caught in the middle—literally. Behind me were hundreds (maybe more) of Ultra-Orthodox seminary girls, who were released from school so they could be bused into the plaza with the intention of blocking the entrance to the Wall itself; in that they succeeded, as the women’s prayer section was flooded, pouring out into the plaza where I was sandwiched most uncomfortably. I watched as young girls wept and prayed, visibly upset at what was unfolding before them—this was the first time the police protected the members of the Women of the Wall, thanks to the decision by the Supreme Court.

One of the members of the Women of the Wall, wearing the tefillin on her forehead

Human wall

One of the male supporters

Sunrise over the Wall

Spectators above the plaza

Members of the media

Across the plaza from me were more officers barricading Haredi Jewish men (Haredim are the most conservative of the Orthodox), who were throwing trash, liquids, water bottles, I think a chair, and apparently stink bombs. The prayer service started at 7AM and lasted until about 9. Towards the end of the service, one of the officers let me through, as he finally realized I was not going to cause any trouble; it wasn't until at the end that I realized they had again formed a human wall behind me—I was now in the middle with the supporters of the Women of the Wall. I quickly climbed atop a vacant chair and relished the view I now had; I was only feet from the Women of the Wall, and beyond I could see the masses, clearly divided between Orthodox, non-Orthodox, and police.

Reading from prayer book

During the service, a girl celebrated her bat mizvah. In the picture below, which I found from a news website, you can see that I was in fact there:

Celebrating bat mitzvah

One of the Haredi hecklers climbed up from the men’s prayer section to the top of the fence to laugh mockingly at the women; the second time he did this, the police officer nearby started punching his knuckles after he failed to push him off like the first time; that eventually worked and the Haredi lost his grip.

He used his megaphone to tell the Orthodox school girls it was time to go back to school

Orthodox protester

After the service was over, Amanda asked if I wanted to try and sneak away or if we should follow the procession out; looking at our surroundings, I realized we didn’t have much of a choice. Not only were the officers still blocking the Ultra-Orthodox Jews, they had also set up metal barricades (fencing) on both sides of us. My friend Josh, who had seen me from the crowd once I stood on the chair, came over and walked out with us. The police went before the throng, and walked along both sides, pushing back angry protesters who were still slinging liquids and spitting as far as they could, all the while yelling and pointing. I stopped to take a picture when I heard behind me “zay lo zman!”, which translates to “there is no time!”; I turned and I saw a bulky but tired police officer; I looked behind me and realized I was the last of the throng, as a wall of officers was right behind me, waiting for me to continue walking. So I quickly obeyed and caught up to Amanda and Josh. They had us file out through the Dung Gate which faces the south. Once out I turned around and saw that the wall of officers had stopped at the gate, blocking the angry Orthodox mob that had been following us. From there things got out of control; standing in the middle of the street, amid the countless police officers, were large groups of Orthodox, clad in the traditional black and white. One young teen was leaning against a police vehicle, his face buried in his black hat while news crews repeatedly filmed and photographed him—he had been arrested. Just up the street, in the direction we were now forced to go, were two more officers manhandling another Haredi, one officer even kicking and kneeing him in the rear to get him back where they wanted him. In the middle of that, yet another young Haredi was being drug down the street by yet another two officers; in all five were arrested, two police officers lightly injured.

A very packed women's prayer section; the area quickly cleared out once the Women of the Wall's service ended

Praying with shawl

Anat Hoffman, chairwoman of Women of the Wall, warns women that they are in danger of attack as they leave, so she advises us to link arms (so I read on a news site; she spoke in Hebrew and I couldn't hear it all); thus my arms were unlinked...but it was ok.