A Place to Call Our Own

It was a sunny, yet cool afternoon as we approached the holiest site in Jewish tradition, myself and 32 teenagers, many there for the first time.  They slowly inched towards the Kotel, the Western Wall, taking in its beauty and stature.  They reached out their hands to lovingly touch its rough stones.  They took words penned at home, filled with their deepest hopes and dreams and stuck these notes deep into the wall’s ancient cracks and crevices.  

Fifteen minutes later, we gathered in a circle just outside the perimeter of the Kotel’s gates.  I turned towards these teens, students from Temple Sinai who had travelled with me across the world, and I asked them:  “What did you feel?”  One of the boys answered right away, “It felt like home!”  I nodded in agreement.   But, a group of girls looked at me horrified!  “What’s the matter” I asked them?! “We couldn’t be ourselves.  We had to cover our shoulders, we had to keep quiet, and we couldn’t stand next to our friends who were boys!”  

At Judaism’s most holy site, some feel at home and at peace, while others feel as if they’ve entered an Ultra-Orthodox Synagogue.  Just like our teens, I sometimes struggle to find solace and comfort in a place that feels far removed from my spiritual and progressive Jewish experience.

That is why the news last week from Israel was so dramatic and revolutionary and uplifting.  The Israeli government vowed to create a new egalitarian prayer space at the Western Wall.  This new section allows men to sit next to women, while boys AND girls will be able to become B’nai Mitzvah!

This is a major win for the progressive Jewish community, yet many Reform Jews are upset by this agreement!  Why?  They believe that this compromise allows the Ultra-Orthodox status quo to continue!  In the new Egalitarian prayer space, we can pray however we wish.  But under this compromise, nothing changes in the old sections.  In the women’s section, women will still not be allowed to chant from the Torah, prayer openly in a group, or wear prayer shawls.  Those who are upset with this agreement believe we are giving up our ability to transform the Kotel!  Still others say that Robinson’s Arch where the new prayer space will be located is not the preferable location.  It is to the south of the traditional Western Wall area and removed from the other sections.  Are we selling out?  Should we keep fighting and resist this capitulation?  NO!  This isn’t capitulation, this is progress!

This week’s Torah portion provides us with a great illustration about Holy Space!  Parashat Terumah describes the building of the Tabernacle, the precursor to the Holy Temple!  God tells the people: “Build me a Sanctuary, so that I may dwell amongst them!”  Our portion delves deep into the minutia and describes exactly how each piece of the Tabernacle should be created.  One item that gets a lot of “play time” is the description around the Ark of the Covenant.  This is the place where The Actual and Original 10 commandments were safely held.  Two long poles were to be attached to either side of the Ark.  The Levites would stand beneath these poles and carry the Ark on their shoulder from place to place through the wilderness.  Think Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark!  However, the Torah informs us that the poles should never be removed.  That makes no sense… for years the Ark stayed put in one location, why not remove the poles when they surely got in the way?  When the people were about to travel through the desert, you could easily put the poles back into place and off you’d go.

That would make sense, but that is not what the Torah says!  The rabbis teach us that the poles were required to stay attached in case the people needed to leave quickly.  The Ark was the most precious religious item of their day.  Inside was the Torah, the foundation of our religion.  We needed easy access to move the Torah quickly in case of attack, to set up a new place of worship.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch teaches that the Torah is not parochial.  We, Jews, do not need to be in a specific place to learn and to study Torah.  The Torah could be found anywhere and the poles remind us that the Torah could easily be moved to any place where we are living or where we are gathered.

What does this have to do with the Kotel?  Well, I will tell you!  The new egalitarian prayer space might not seem everything we dreamed of and it might be 100 feet outside the picture of most postcards of Jerusalem.  But, that 100 feet doesn’t matter!  The poles of the Ark remind us that we define holy space wherever we choose.  If we call this new egalitarian prayer space holy, it will become our Holy and Sacred Place.

These poles were never removed, reminding us that our journey is never complete.  We are constantly traveling from place to place never satisfied and never completely settled.  This new agreement is truly a victory!  We now have a place to call our own, but our journey is far from over.  We will keep our fight alive making sure that all Jews, no matter if they are Reform, or Conservative, or Orthodox, feel at home, and at peace at the Kotel.  We will continue to build a sanctuary where God can dwell amongst ALL OF US.