In This Moment: Israel's Culture War Explodes - Over Gender Segregated Prayer; All About Sukkot

 

In This Moment Israel's Religious Culture War Explodes...on Yom Kippur! Today's Jerusalem Post Today's Ha'aretz (English) Click here for more headlines Headline of Yediot the day after Yom Kippur, speaking of Dizengoff incident: "The Square of Strife!" It's kind of stunning that when Israel's current internal tensions spilled over into a full fledged culture war, the match to ignite it was a staple of American Jewish life: mixed seating at prayer services. This issue combines many of the big ticket controversies that have embroiled Israeli society for years: sex-segregation in public places, the subjugation of women, and the encroachment of ultra orthodoxy into secular areas. It's one thing to have gender separation in public squares of B'nai Brak, or even parts of Jerusalem, but for it to happen in the heart of secular Tel Aviv feels like a deliberate provocation. As the Times of Israel reported before the incident: On Friday before Yom Kippur, the Supreme Court rejected a petition to allow gender-segregated prayers in the square. The justices thus sided with the ruling of a lower court in favor of the Tel Aviv municipality, which forbade Rosh Yehudi from holding the event with a gender divider. That ruling should have been the end of it, but it was barely the beginning. Israelis are not used to fighting over prayer spaces in public areas. It's not a major concern of theirs because each neighborhood follows its own customs. In Tel Aviv there is an enormous Friday night service with mixed seating at the port. There would not be a gender segregated service there, because Tel Aviv is the most progressive city in the country. In other places with larger Orthodox populations, services in public areas have gender separation. But to push this matter in Tel Aviv breaks what had been a long lasting status quo, an encroachment, with the intent of staking out new territory for Orthodoxy - to create a "fact on the ground." And the response to that was one of those "enough is enough" moments for the seculars. I do sympathize with that, having faced similar situations both there and here, but resorting to violence was not tactically smart. So the fact that fighting over a mehitzah (partition) became front page news in Israeli papers (and not just the English ones) was a big deal. I concur with Yossi Klein Halevi, who wrote: In past years, Tel Aviv on Yom Kippur was a model of tolerance. There was no secular outrage against a mechitza in the streets. What changed this year is the government’s war against liberal Israelis, who are fighting for the survival of their Israel, their ability to continue living in this country. This year a public mechitza in Tel Aviv was especially provocative, given the growing phenomenon of women being pushed to the back of the bus – metaphorically and sometimes literally – around the country. I wish the protesters had resisted the provocation of Rosh Yehudi, but I understand their desperation. Read some of the reports below, and think about how unacceptable enforced separate seating has become in non-Orthodox settings here. What used to be tolerated as the "least common denominator" back in the days before women could be rabbis and count in the minyan, has now become, in the eyes of many, a moral outrage. It's just another example of the widening culture war among Jews. Right now, no one seems interested in bridging that gap. Prime Minister Netanyahu had an opportunity to be a statesman but instead tried to stoke the flames and tie this violence to the judicial reform protests, in order to divide and conquer, banking that some Israelis who resist judicial reform might also resist mixed seating and might be lured over to his side. Protest leader Shikma Bressler (whom I spoke about on Yom Kippur) had this response on X (see below; the Google translation isn't perfect - it's not "support his brother" but "pitting his brothers against one another"). I suspect this incident will recede as new stories involving the Supreme Court, the Saudis and instability along the borders fill the news cycle. I doubt the number of protesting marchers will be any smaller this Sat. night (remember, for Israelis, the second day of Sukkot is hol hamoed). But the line has drawn in the sand. Tel Aviv, for secular Israelis, is holy ground. Fights break out over gender-segregated Yom Kippur prayers (JPost) Segregated Yom Kippur prayers spark slurs and bitterness, not atonement, in Tel Aviv (TOI) Protesters Prevent Gender-segregated Prayers From Being Held in Public Across Israel (Ha'aretz) We all know who to blame for the Jewish intolerance of Yom Kippur 5784 (TOI) - “What is hateful to you, do not do unto others. That is the whole Torah. The rest is interpretation.” The state of our brokenness (TOI) - Yossi Klein Halevi places it all into perspective in his moderate, sane manner. On Segregated Prayer: The TBE Experience ** Here are two incidents of where enforced gender separation disrupted the prayers of groups I was leading: When I was in Israel with our New England “March of the Living” group in 2010, our mostly non-Orthodox group stayed in a nice Youth Hostel near the Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem. Our group arranged to have access to the hostel’s synagogue, a simple meeting room with an ark, for a private Kabbalat Shabbat service. No other group was in there at the time. The Orthodox members of our group decided to daven with a mechitza in another location in the building – it was an arrangement that worked well throughout our trip. About ten minutes into our egalitarian service, our group leader came up to me – as I was leading the service – and said that the hostel’s manager had told him that our service cannot continue unless we separate the boys from the girls. Now this was a group of seventy teens who were, for the most part, experiencing Israel for the first time. Just days before we had cried at Auschwitz and stood silently by the remnants of the Warsaw Ghetto. They were exhilarated to be in Israel and I was trying not to douse their enthusiasm by interjecting the sorry state of Israeli pluralism into their experience. So rather than tell this group that this state-run hostel was hostile to the way they pray, I looked for an escape hatch – literally. There was a door in the back of the room, leading to a large outdoor patio overlooking the city. The weather was perfect, and I had planned to take them outside for Lecha Dodi anyway, so I stalled for time until we got there (as my group leader stared at me nervously, I stared back defiantly), and then, as we reached Lecha Dodi, we danced out the door and onto the patio, where we danced and prayed for the remainder of the service. For two thousand years men and women stood and prayed together at the Western Wall, right up front. Even after 1967, when a mechitza was installed, this practice continued farther back in the plaza. In 1987, I brought a group from my previous congregation to the Wall and we prayed, men and women together, about halfway back, nowhere near the segregated men's and women's areas, which we respected -- as we should. We even saw a Beth El group there, led by Hazzan Rabinowitz. It was just a few days before I was to come to Stamford. In 1994, my group from here was forced to end our Friday evening service abruptly by Haredim and police -- it was a shock to the children, and to me. Subsequent TBE groups, on Friday nights, prayed other locations entirely. If we had tried to gather at the Kotel, we wouldn't have had a prayer. But in 1994, we prayed in unison in Tel Aviv, right next to the beach. No one bothered us at all, though several onlookers stopped to see this curiosity of American Jews who prayed so differently from what they were used to seeing. And some stopped because they had no idea what we were doing. In Stamford, there have been other issues that have made unified prayer difficult, and at times impossible. But we've also been able to work things out from time to time. See what I wrote about Shabbat Across Stamford in 2015. We just won't countenance what is demeaning to women anymore, even if some believe "separate but equal" is not. Ha'aretz Editorial All About Sukkot Sukkot Halachic Digest 5783 Nine of the Most Beautiful Sukkot in Israel Here's some background info on the meaning of the lulav and etrog. Some Sukkot social justice resources from AJWS What you need to know about Sukkot (Jerusalem Post) Sukkot 101 (MJL) Download an LGBTQ Ushpizin (Sukkah Guest Ceremony). What is Ushpizin? (Jewish Virtual Library) A Sukkot Quiz Kohelet: Torah for the 21st Century (MJL) Ushpizin - Welcoming Special Sukkot Guests I'll be welcoming these heretics to our service on Sunday. We'll discuss whether or not they truly deserved their infamy and we'll decide who deserves to be our special guest heretic of the day. And who might be nominated from our day. Yom Kippur Sermons Video and text of my Yom Kippur sermons are now available online: Kol Nidre: Counting to One - "Counting to One" - Seeing hope in Israel's moment of truth. Can unity emerge out of the attempted judicial coup and the unprecedented massive reaction to it? We cannot give up that hope. Nor can we afford to be late to the game. Our Israeli "achim" have taken to the streets. And they are waiting for us to join them. Teach us, O Adonai, to count to One. Yom Kippur Day: The Keys - "The Keys" - In his final High Holidays message in Stamford, Rabbi Joshua Hammerman looks at what it means to be "all-in" in work and in life. Looking at key moments in his 37 years at Temple Beth El, he describes the existential dilemmas of his chosen profession, saying he would never recommend it to anyone, "but I wouldn’t trade these 40 years in the rabbinate for anything. It has made me a much better person than I ever would have been." Rosh Hashanah sermons, text and video. Click here for both days. Temple Beth El 350 Roxbury Road Stamford, Connecticut 06902 203-322-6901 | www.tbe.org    A Conservative, Inclusive, Spiritual Community

In This Moment: Sho-far Away; Barbie's "Gam Ani" Moment; New Year for Animals; Golda's About to Have a Moment

In This Moment Sho-far Away... Doesn't anybody play in one place anymore? Shabbat Shalom! Beginning on Friday, the first of Elul, we'll be sounding the shofar each day at minyan, to prepare for the new year. Thanks to Matt Miller for organizing the shofar brigade once again, and to all our expert shofarists (Ba'alay Tekiah). Remember our 2020 High Holidays, when Marc Schneider went "on location" to sound the ram's horn right next to a real live ram at the Nature Center, and then down at the beach, or in front of Stamford Hospital? It was one of the highlights of that very unusual year. Here is the link to that album of photos and video clips, It's entitled Shofar's Excellent Adventure. Play the videos all through Elul so you can hear the shofar every day, whether or not you can make it to minyan. Every day EXCEPT... Shabbat. In that album you'll also find the shofar-less, quiet nature clips that we used on the first day of Rosh Hashanah, which fell on Shabbat that year. Rather than try to change everything around us, which the shofar calls on us to do, on Shabbat we seek to live with the world as it is. As Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote: Why do I mention this now? Well. for two reasons. One, because during this, my final year as senior rabbi, I'm taking some trips down memory lane, and I'm as proud of our 2020 High Holiday services as any set of service we've done here - and the room was completely empty. Beth Styles, Cantor Katie and a whole host of tekkies, volunteers and musicians deserve our eternal gratitude for that spectacular Yom Tov (holiday). But also, because this year the first day of Rosh Hashanah falls, you guessed it, on Shabbat, so once again we will have to delay our shofar gratification. On the first day, we'll think about the shofar, and maybe even mimic it, but I recommend that you find a quiet spot, as we did in 2020, and enjoy the quiet. We can wait one more day. There's something kind of nice about stating to the world that, while Rosh Hashanah is really, really important, Shabbat, which comes around every week, is even more important. And even more important than Shabbat, the day, is the IDEA of Shabbat, which is not to subdue but to be in accord. Meanwhile, listen to Marc's piercing blasts. And to help us in our Elul prep, another of the greatest hits from years gone by: Mensch*Marks for the New Year. The Talmudic tractate Avot, 6:6 provides a roadmap as to how to live an ethical life. This passage includes 48 middot (measures) through which we can “acquire Torah.”  See the full list of middot here. For each day during the High Holiday period, running from the first of Elul through Yom Kippur and beyond, I highlighted one of these middot in order to assist each of us in the process of soul searching (“heshbon ha-nefesh”). Click here to see the full countdown, and explore a different ethical quality each day A Sobering Alert After a lovely service outdoors last week, it looks like we'll be heading back indoors this week because of the iffy forecast. I guess it was too good to be true. Meanwhile, JTA reports more sobering news: At least two synagogues in California were evacuated during Shabbat services over the weekend as online trolls targeted Jewish congregations for the fourth straight week with fake bomb and other security threats. Furthermore, at least 26 congregations in 12 states have received the threats, according to the Anti-Defamation League, which is raising alarm about the barrage. The organization believes the instigators are selecting their targets based on the availability of livestreamed services and other events, motivated by their desire to watch the congregations react to the threats in real time.  Vigilance is the order of the day. It so happens that we have been chosen to participate in the ADL's Kulanu program as part of their new cohort. You can read all about the program here. It's nice to be part of a select group, but I really wish we didn't have the need. Meanwhile, we will not allow ourselves to be intimidated or victimized. Happy New Year to Animals! Cobie, Cassidy and Casey Hammerman There are four New Years festivals recorded in the Mishnah. The best known are Tu B’Shevat, the New Year of Trees, and Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. But did you know that Judaism has a New Year for the Animals? It’s called Rosh Hashanah La’Behemot, and it falls on Elul 1. That means Rosh Hashanah La’Behemot is TODAY (Thursday)! Go and hug an animal! Back in temple times, this was the day used to calculate the age of a prospective fleecy, furry or feathery candidate for ritual sacrifice. Now we can use this day to think about the sacrifices our fleecy, furry and feathery friends have made for our benefit. See: As Maui Wildfires Burn, Dogs Assist in Search and Rescue Efforts We should use this day to consider the deep relationship between humans and animals of all kinds. The holiday can serve as a chance to remind people about the prohibition against unnecessary cruelty to animals. Rosh Hashanah La’Behemot is a perfect day to start conversations about animal welfare — and start taking action to improve the lives of animals around the world. The mitzvah of kindness to animals, which is featured in next week's Torah portion, is called Tzaar Baalay Hayyim - which literally means "the pain of living creatures." As Jewish vegetarianism guru Richard Schwartz wrote in a recent column, we have much work to do if we are to reduce the pain of our fellow creatures: It is significant that Judaism considers that for hiddur mitzvah (to enhance mitzvot) the shofar and other ritual objects should ideally come from animals that have been raised without cruelty and have died natural deaths. Transforming the holiday would also: show that Jews are applying Judaism’s eternal teachings to today’s critical issues. It would  improve Judaism’s image for people concerned about vegetarianism and veganism, animals, the environment, and related issues, by reinforcing a compassionate side of Judaism. It would also help inspire Jews who are currently alienated to some extent from Judaism and strengthen the commitment of Jews who are already involved in Jewish life, by reclaiming/transforming a holiday that they can more closely relate to and find relevant, meaningful,  and appealing. Renewing an ancient, almost completely forgotten Jewish holiday may seem audacious. But it is essential to help revitalize Judaism, improve the health of Jews, sharply reduce the current massive mistreatment of animals, and help move our precious but imperiled planet to a sustainable path. So as we wish one another a happy Elul, and in fact we now begin to wish one another a sweet new year too, we can also turn to our pets and say, "and a happy new year to you too, Bubela!' Barbie's "Gam Ani" Moment Can Stereotypical Barbie help stem a worldwide tide of anti feminism? "Gam Ani" means "Me Too" and the talk of Israel this week has been the saga of the teenage girls who were forced to sit in the back of the bus and cover up, for the sin of wearing jeans and a tank top. The Hebrew headline below says "Only Because We Are Women," referring to those teens and other women who have been victimized recently. There was a Holocaust survivor given the silent treatment, because the driver "doesn't talk to women," and the woman who was banned from entering a mall because she was wearing workout clothes; and Hila, who had to walk a half hour because the driver told her that "the bus is for men only." The article adds, "More and more women find themselves excluded from the public sphere because they happen to have been born the wrong gender." This story was featured on the front page of The New York Times, and after an awkward silence, Prime Minister Netanyahu finally responded, essentially saying, "Nothing to see here," claiming that discrimination never happens on Israeli bus lines. Which leaves us wondering, if discrimination against women is not allowed, why is this happening? Are these girls imagining that the driver made them sit in the back? Below the Hebrew front page, see an article in Tuesday's Ha'aretz delineating a plethora of oppressive legislative initiatives the government has lined up, once they can get the Supreme Court out of their way. It's not just about subjugating women, of course, but sidelining minorities of all stripes. I've not yet seen the Barbie movie, but the doll's Jewish roots and proud persona, plus the ecstatic reception the movie's received worldwide, puts her in a unique position (for a toy). Maybe she can help convince the Israeli government to treat women with dignity and equity and cease this slide toward dystopian theocracy. But nothing will change unless good people speak up. Recommended Reading and Watching  Today's Israeli Front Pages Yediot Achronot Ha'aretz (English) Jerusalem Post Yossi Klein Halevi's appearance at the closing plenum at the AJC Global Forum was an extraordinary moment, as he implored the assembled to do what American Jews have always been so reluctant to do - get off the fence and take sides in an internal Israeli matter. Watch his powerful presentation (video above) and note the rousing reaction he received. Given the message he gave, this would never have happened before this year. I've been reading an intense, fascinating book this summer on the interaction between Israel, American government leaders and American Jews. it's called We Are Not One: A History of America's Fight Over Israel, by Eric Alterman. I picked it up with some skepticism, assuming that there would be very little that I hadn't heard before. I was surprised to discover that not to be true. Alterman's exhaustive research has some shocking (and often disturbing) revelations. It's dense but very readable. Given what's happening right now over there (and here), it could not be more timely. Give for Maui relief: Jewish Groups Launch Relief Effort for Maui as Island’s Jews Are Among the Evacuated Machane Yehuda Market celebrates centennial at a crossroads (Israel 21c) And see video below: Discovering Machane Yehuda Market and the Melodies of Street Musicians Shine up your tea kettles because Golda Meir is about to have a moment. Between Deborah Lipstadt's new biography and a Netflix movie, Israel's complicated Iron Lady will undoubtedly emerge more lionized than chastised. See this Forward review of Lipstadt's book, "Beloved and loathed, decisive or stubborn, icon or enemy of feminism — does Golda Meir deserve any of her reputations?" After you read that, you may want to look back at this prior book about Golda that did not pull any punches: Will of Iron, Heart of Stone: Book Shines Light on Golda Meir’s Harder Side (Forward). The author recounts how her son, Menachem, off studying the cello in Yugoslavia, was having marital problems with his new wife. She was pregnant and insisted the couple return to Jerusalem to have the baby. Meir assumed her daughter-in-law was trying to sabotage her son’s promising music career, so she decided that, as punishment, she would ignore her first grandchild. The baby girl that was born that year, Meira Meyerson, had a mild case of Down syndrome. Meir refused to see her. The child, she demanded, should be institutionalized. “Golda was like a stone,” an old friend confessed. I knew about this story because that daughter-in-law was a distant cousin of mine, and she was very bitter about the treatment her daughter received. Still, I always admired Golda and of all the books I've read about her, the best by far was her own autobiography, My Life. I look forward to this upcoming re-exploration of her life. Meanwhile, another portrayal of a 20th century Jewish icon is facing headwinds. Jewish fans slam the trailer for Netflix’s Leonard Bernstein biopic ‘Maestro,’ which shows Bradley Cooper with an elongated nose. See also, Leonard Bernstein’s Children Defend Bradley Cooper’s Prosthetic Nose in ‘Maestro’ (NYT) Strangely, Bernstein played the role of Cyrano when he was a high school student at Boston Latin. I wonder how he got the famously schnozzy part, what Lenny would think about this brouhaha, and whether it's really worth it for the Jews to cause a Jet-Shark style rumble over this? On the other hand, Cooper is a good enough actor to have played the Elephant Man on Broadway without makeup (and evidently not a single complaint from the Anti Elephant Defamation League). maybe he could have done Lenny without having to go full-Durante on us.   2023 Parliament of the World’s Religions - See also: From interfaith vegans to inclusive heathens, religious Parliament offers it all. It's taking place in Chicago this week. Read about its Global Ethic, a landmark declaration of the Parliament of the World’s Religions stating the universal values and principles shared by the world’s religious, spiritual, and cultural traditions. It states: Humanity needs a vision of peoples living peacefully together, of ethnic and ethical groupings and of religions sharing responsibility for the care of Earth. A vision rests on hopes, goals, ideals, standards. But all over the world these have slipped from our hands. Yet we are convinced that, despite their frequent abuses and failures, it is the communities of faith who bear a responsibility to demonstrate that such hopes, ideals, and standards can be guarded, grounded, and lived. How to Prepare for Rosh Hashanah (MJL) 9 Jewish Things About Pomegranates (MJL) - Images of pomegranates are mainstays of Rosh Hashanah cards, Jewish jewelry and a range of Jewish ritual objects, and the fruit itself makes frequent appearances in Jewish cuisine. But what’s so Jewish about this ancient treat? Quite a lot! Cantor Philip Sherman, the ‘busiest mohel in New York,’ dies at 67 (JTA) Often called the "Mohel to the Stars," I worked with him a number of times and never hesitated to recommend him. Nechama Tec, Polish Holocaust Survivor and Scholar, Dies at 92 (NYT obit) - Many of us knew her from her days at UConn Stamford, as well as her book, Defiance. Israel’s Rule Has Created a New Judaism (Ha'aretz) Supremacy, oppression, force – never before has the Jewish people engaged in such an explosive fusion of sovereignty and rule. Messianic fervor, once under the radar, is now rearing its head is no precedent in Jewish history for the existence of a Jewish state that constitutes a regional power and rules another people. Never before has the Jewish people possessed a combination like this of sovereignty, power and control. A majority of Israelis think that Israel is currently in a state of emergency (israel Democracy Institute) 58% of Israelis believe the country is in a "state of emergency." Only a small minority of Israelis believe that IDF reservists, who fail to report for duty in protest of the judicial overhaul, should be dismissed. See also: Majority of Israelis Pessimistic About Future of Democracy, IDI Poll Shows (Ha'aretz) 58 percent of Israelis believe that 'Israel is on the verge of economic, social, and political collapse' because of Netanyahu's judicial overhaul. Temple Beth El 350 Roxbury Road Stamford, Connecticut 06902 203-322-6901 | www.tbe.org    A Conservative, Inclusive, Spiritual Community

Temple Beth El | 350 Roxbury Road, Stamford, CT 06902