A wandering jewtheist : Women of the Wall

This morning I went with my friend Rochelle and her husband Ed to Women of the Wall, a group comprised of Jewish women of different denominations, who gather on the first of every Jewish month (considered a holy day for women) to say morning prayers at the Western Wall.

The group is controversial because according to the Orthodox Rabbinate in Israel, women should not wear tallit (prayer shawls) or tefillin (the black boxes that contain wrapped up prayers and which Orthodox men wrap around their arms and heads). What the Women of the Wall do is actually illegal in Israel (not the actual praying, but women wearing tefillin and tallit), and Rochelle said there are usually a few arrests.

Rochelle said there probably weren't any arrests this time because a few members of parliament attended the ceremony.

Contrary to my expectations, except for one Orthodox lady who yelled at us and a few cops who came up to some women and asked them to remove their tefillin and tallit (the women did not obey), there was no huge commotion. The prayer and singing were peaceful and joyous. Although I didn't know all the Hebrew, I sang along with other foreign Jews just saying "lai-lai-lai" when we didn't know the words.

For more info. on Women of the Wall, visit their website: http://womenofthewall.org.il/