Feminism and the Kotel

The recent turmoil at the Kotel saddens me to no end, as it should all of us. There is no room for anger or infighting in Jewish Law.  The Torah shows what consequences there are to our complaining and our infighting.  The word Shalom rolls so easily and so casually off our lips. We miss its message: Peace.

At the very place where we have nothing left but the Western Wall, the Kotel – the holy remnant of our Temple in Jerusalem, due to infighting and hate among our people, that very place which is a witness and a remembrance to just that fault, we continue to repeat our error.  Remember why it is all we have left.  Remember why there is a constant call for the division of Jerusalem.  The reasons are within us, within our behavior, blaming others does not solve anything. Through the fact that there is so much fighting from the nations over Jerusalem, Hashem shows us that we are arguing and fighting.  It is all a mirror Hashem keeps in front of us.

The Kotel now becomes a place of division, once again dividing our people in hate and anger.  Stones are thrown at us because we throw stones at each other, in a matter of speaking.  As Jews we know that everything is tit for tat, cause and effect.  Every action has a reaction and it is only common sense to know that the action causes the reaction.

We are fighting among ourselves at the very place where once stood a beautiful Temple. We lost it twice! How fast we forget why and how fast we make things worse! We continue to make the same mistakes and for what? Power, attention, a personal need to feel important? One does not need media attention to be important, to be somebody. We are all equal. It’s only our purpose in life that is different from one person to another. That does not make one more important than the other.  The dishwasher is as important as the chef. Why? Without the dishwasher the chef has nothing to cook in and serve with. Hmm…think about it. Every person, every task or role is equally important, like wheels in a clock. Take one out and the machine won’t work.

The Torah gave both man and woman equally important roles, one is no less important than the other. Each is born with a distinct path in life to complete and/or work on his or her tikkun. Protesting roles or positions is protesting Ha-Shem’s Will and for sure Ha-Shem makes no mistakes. Who are we to judge Ha-Shem’s plans for us?  Who are we to look down on others just to make ourselves feel more important?

How can we work on our personal Tikkun – our own soul correction, when we try to be someone else?  Yes try to be someone else. Women fighting to fulfill male roles is not “you being you”, improving you, finding your true self. If you are busy trying to become that to which you were not brought down to this earth for, you miss your mission in life.  If you are not a woman with Emuna, faith that Ha-Shem has a divine plan for you within Torah (our manual to which all our clocks work in perfect synchronization), you miss your goal in life. You miss your Tikkun and you cause damage to our people as a nation.

Feminism is already ingrained in the Torah. We already have it.  You don’t need to fight for that which you already have.  Cover yourself with a shawl to pray if you wish as so many of our women did in ancient times, but leave the tzitzit to the men.  Light your Shabbat candles.  Prepare a Shabbat meal but leave the Kiddush to the man. Focus on the importance of our female roles within our culture.  A Jewish home does not run without the woman’s hands – it is the women in our homes that make Judaism what it is.  It is the woman who makes or breaks the home.  Women, don’t throw our role away – it leads to nothing but destruction of our ways.  As in ancient days we can bring peace and be the preservers of our ways.

Think back to Egypt when we were still enslaved before we became a people. It was the women who encouraged the men to remarry and with that established the continuation of our people. Wake up ladies!  Without our roles there would not have been a people to free from slavery. There would not have been Jews.  There would not be a nation today.

So why would you like to be a man? There are many more stories like this that show the important role the women fulfill,  a female role in a modest way, not by acting like a man.  Woman use your skills, your strength in a positive way.  If there are enough women praying at the women’s site to fill it to capacity there would not be room for those that choose ways that are not according to our tradition, and who  are there for nothing but attention and causing problems.

Think of Deborah our first judge. She made wicks and sent her husband to deliver them to the Temple. Modesty ladies, it’s our modesty and our peaceful ways that made history and built our nation.

Who did Hashem approach first at the giving of the Torah? The women, who in the Torah are referred to as the house of Jacob.  Only when they accepted did Hashem ask the house of Israel, the men, to accept the Torah.   We, the women, accepted the Torah first.  Don’t leave it up to the men to keep its ways.  We must lead by keeping its ways ourselves.

Ladies, find strength in our modest female roles instead of by trying to take the men’s clothes and roles. You take away the importance of our role and you destroy our ways when you do that. We build the home, guide our children, create time in which the men can pray and study.  Our role is so important! Fulfill it as it should be fulfilled.  Hashem gave the Torah because it is perfect – let’s keep it…