by Rabbi Jill Jacobs, Truah Rabbis – The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
New York, February 17 – The Western Wall must be open to all to seek a divine connection as they see fit, except that it lies beyond the 1967 lines, which means it must be under Palestinian control, and if they keep Jews away, well, that’s not as important.
Every New Moon, when the Hebrew calendar marks the shift from one month to the next, brave women assert their God-given right to observe Jewish liturgical rituals at the Western Wall, while the backward forces of reactionary darkness in the form of Israel’s religious establishment attempt to compel them to comply with outdated notions of gender roles. These courageous activists challenge the immoral monopoly the orthodox rabbis exercise at the site, even risking arrest and withstanding vicious verbal abuse at the hands of those who want Judaism stuck in the eighteenth century. I, on the other hand, want Judaism stuck in, say, the 1950’s, when Jordan occupied the eastern portion of Jerusalem and never let Jews in despite the UN-brokered 1949 armistice agreement specifically obligating them to protect and maintain access to Jewish holy sites. A Muslim monopoly I can handle.
The march of progress almost never follows a linear path; at times we must accept setbacks or detours in the long journey to the Promised Land, so to speak, a term that carries no small amount of irony in this context, given how staunchly I want Israel to relinquish its hold on large portions of that actual land. I do so in the interest of progressive values, which of necessity prioritize every other value over Jewish tradition, a tradition that, when it comes down to it, serves only to be mined for ideas I already hold but seek to anchor in something that sounds better than “it makes me feel validated when non-Jews honor me for disparaging a heritage my ancestors maintained for thousands of years.” If I don’t find anything I can always distort something for the purpose.
Our opponents at the wall want to take us back to a time when women had no say in public life, and faced ostracism or abuse when they defied the patriarchy. I, on the other hand, want to take us back to a time when Jews had no access to the place where all their prayers and longing focused for two thousand years, and could not rely on the international community to safeguard their rights. I am certain our allies in the progressive movement will depart with every single historical precedent and fight for our right to worship at the Western Wall or Cave of the Patriarchs or Temple Mount or Joseph’s Tomb or Rachel’s Tomb as they never did when Jews had no power.
Editor’s note: Ms. Jacobs’s attorney Michael Sfard (yes! the one who defends various anti-Israel groups in court; act surprised) might get his knickers in a twist if we do not include a disclaimer to the effect that Ms. Jacbos did not pen this essay, because either she, he, or both of them believe you all to be stupid. It would be horrible, just horrible, if someone were to share this article without the disclaimer, so we ask that you pretend we never mentioned it.
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