Comedian Sarah Silverman tweeted last week that she was proud of her sister, Rabbi Susan Silverman, and her niece, 18-year-old Hallel Abramowitz-Silverman, for wearing tallitot while praying at the Kotel. Mother and daughter were arrested with 8 other women during the monthly prayer service held by Women of the Wall, a human rights group that has waged a long legal battle to secure religious rights for women in Israel. Read Hallel’s emotional account of the incident here. For a concise account of the legal rationale that prohibits women in Israel from wearing tallitot and reading Torah at the Kotel, see this summary.
This incident highlights the continuing struggle in Israel between progressive Judaism and the ultra-Orthodox establishment about the place of women in the public domain, whether it’s praying at the Kotel, riding on public buses, or even walking to school. The latter example refers to young Naama Margolese, an 8-year-old girl from a modern Orthodox family in Beit Shemesh. Naama was cursed and spit upon by Haredi men as she walked to her modern Orthodox school. Her trauma shocked Israelis and the international community. Watch this YouTube video to gain an understanding of what Naama faced.
One of the parents in the Haredi community of Beit Shemesh who renounced the bullying was recently elected to the Knesset. Rabbi Dov Lipman ran for election as a member of the new political party, Yesh Atid, which captured 19 seats. An ultra-Orthodox rabbi who made aliyah from Silver Spring, MD, Lipman represents a new wave of politicians who are committed to creating a pluralistic society in Israel. In fact, a glimpse of the open society that Lipman and his colleagues in Yesh Atid aim to create unfolded last week at a Torah study session held for Knesset members. “Seeing [Knesset members] and staff members from ultra-Orthodox through secular studying Torah together showed the beauty of the environment we are creating in this new Knesset,” Lipman said.
On March 1, 2013, Behrman House will publish on babaganewz.com an exclusive interview with Rabbi Lipman, who is the first American Jew since Meir Kahane to be elected to the Knesset. A comprehensive lesson plan will accompany the interview.
As Jewish educators, we must, at a minimum, inform our students about the ongoing struggle in Israel to create a more pluralistic society. (For a compelling argument of the importance of pluralism to Israel’s future, see Daniel Gordis’s recent article in the Jerusalem Post.)
The Behrman House Online Learning Center (OLC) has a wealth of resources to help you introduce the conversation – here are three:
1. Meeting the Other Side
2. Standing Up for Understanding
3. The Amazing Race
Click here to access the Resource Libraries and then search for each title individually.
