Kristalnacht, Women of the Wall and Dinah

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What do Kristalnacht, Women of the Wall and this week’s Torah portion have in common? It turns out quite a bit. This past week we marked the 75 anniversary of Kristalnacht. The Night of Broken Glass, Shattered Glass. On the night of November 9th, 1938, Nazi Germany conducted an organized pogrom against the Jews. On that night 91 Jews were killed, 30.000 Jews sent to Dachau, Buchenwald and Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg concentration camps. 5.000 Jewish shops were looted, 191 synagogues attacked, bonfires made of Torah scrolls, prayer books and volumes of Jewish history, philosophy and poetry. It was really the start of the Final Solution that would lead to the systematic murder of 6,000,000 Jews. For me it is personal. I know people who were there. People who shortly thereafter fled Germany and are lucky to be alive. I treasure their first person accounts–and Susette Tauber’s mother’s plum cake recipe passed down from generation to generation.

I participated in two events to mark this occasion. One at Congregation Kneseth Israel where we wove readings appropriate into the event into our regular Friday night Kabbalat Shabbat service. Hearing Schindler’s List music again like I did in Hamln Germany for yizkor on Yom Kippur, was haunting but not as haunting as reading of the names of the relatives of members of the congregation who died during the Holocaust. One family, the Kofkins, sent in 23 names. 13 of them were murdered on one day in 1942. Words fail.

The next night I trekked into Wilmette for the Illinois Holocaust Museum and JUF sponsored commemoration. A thousand people were there to hear music, stories and a panel discuss the relevance of Kristalnacht today. I learned a couple of facts I did not know. Every Chicago police officer near the end of their Academy training goes to the Holocaust museum because on the night of broken glass the police had been ordered to stand down and not protect Jews, Jewish businesses and synagogues. Chicago police will not be bystanders. I learned that Kristalnacht happened on the same night that Germans mark their surrender of World War I. We, in this country,  talk about the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month and mark that as Armistice Day, now known as Veteran’s Day but for Germans, it is November 9th. It is a day of great shame. November 9th is also the day the Berlin Wall fell. So like Tisha B’av or the anniversary of Paul Revere’s ride, there are overlays of meaning in German culture for Kristalnacht.

Last week was also the 25th anniversary of Women of the Wall. As a national speaker for Women of the Wall, an organization I have supported for 25 years, I trekked into Northfield for a Rosh Hodesh service. It was meaningful to be with a group of like-minded women who support a woman’s right to pray.

For 25 years, starting on Rosh Hodesh Kislev 1988, women have gathered together to pray at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Their desire, to pray with tallit, tefilin and Torah. To be able to sing. To say the Sh’ma out loud. It has never been easy. There are those within the ultra-Orthodox establishment who have mocked, blocked, bullied, bruised, beaten and worse these women. Noa Frenkel was arrested in 2009. Later she was beaten at the Central Bus Station in Beer Sheva. Her crime? The tale tell signs on her arm of having lain tefillin. Anat Hoffman has been arrested several times. Last October she was arrested, strip searched and brutalized. Her crime? Singing the Sh’ma.

Singing the Sh’ma, reading Torah from a scroll, reciting Kaddish. For some men, these acts by women are anathema. Why? They violate the prohibition of Kol Isha, hearing a woman’s voice. Seems that in order to protect men from being aroused, a woman must be silent, not heard. Hagar cried out. Miriam sang with a timbrel in her hand, leading the women in prayer. Hannah prayed. The daughter of King Saul wore tefilin.

I travelled to DeKalb to speak to Congregation Beth Shalom to talk about Women of the Wall and I listened to their anger grow. How can this kind of persecution happen? How can some Jews do this to other Jews? What was the role of the police?

Why do I care? I care because I was brutally attacked in Israel as a young college student. I was told by the attackers, Israeli soldiers, that I was worse than Hitler because I didn’t live in Israel and wasn’t doing anything to help the Jewish people survive. The Orthodox establishment told me that the attack had been a punishment from G-d, telling me that because I was a woman I couldn’t be a rabbi. It has taken me years to heal, years to be able to speak about it publicly. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1S3-c1ssrk

This week we read the portion that includes the rape of Dinah. This is not the story in the parsha that we usually tell our youth. We usually focus on the reconciliation between Jacob and Esau.  The Torah tells us that Jacob took his two wives, his two maidservants, his eleven children and crossed the Jabbok. But Jacob had 12 children. What happened to Dinah? Rashi tells us Jacob hid her in a box, in a coffin, to protect her from Esau. Then Jacob wrestles with an angel. His name is changed after fighting all night with that angel or a man or a messenger or himself, to Israel, G-dwrestler. It is an important, formative story.

But the very next story is one of the most painful ones in the Torah. But in the very next story, where was that protection for the wives, for Dinah? We learn about Dinah’s “encounter” with Shechem. Rape, seduction, consensual? Most translations call it rape. Only afterwards, does Shechem fall in love with her, speak tenderly to her and try to procure her as his wife. 

What is missing in this painful story is Dinah’s voice. Was she silent? Did she scream out? What did she think of her brothers’ reactions? From the text we simply don’t know. From the midrash we are told either it was a punishment for her father Jacob (three separate reasons) or it was her fault. Her fault? That is a blaming the victim mentality. However, in Avot de-Rabbi Nathan, Chapter 3 it tells us that Dinah wanted her beauty to be seen and so would wander in the fields to go out and see the daughters of the land. Shechem couldn’t help himself. He was like a man in the marketplace holding meat eventually attacked by a dog. Really? He couldn’t control himself? ‘I feel my anger rising.

We learn that the rabbis see Dinah just like every other woman, weak, because she was created from Adam’s rib which is a concealed, modest place and from that they deduce women should not go out in public (Gen. Rabbah 18:2, 8:2). Other places we are told she did not protest so she must have wanted it. Again, a blame the victim statement. It reminds me of domestic violence victims who tell me that if only they hadn’t gone to that party and talked to a strange man, their husband wouldn’t have beaten her. Really? These are attitudes that still persist in our culture. A culture that denigrates women. Even women who want to worship at the Wall.

Dinah was silent. Dinah was raped. Dinah’s voice was not heard. Not in the Torah and not in the subsequent commentaries and midrashim.

Anita Diamant, the founder of Mayyim Hayyim in Boston, was troubled by Dinah’s lack of voice. She wrote a whole book, the Red Tent, a modern midrashic work, which became a New York Times bestseller, to give Dinah a voice. A tremendous amount of research and creativity went into this novel. I still want the footnotes! It helps but it is still a painful story. I still come out thinking that Dinah was silent. Dinah was raped. Then Dinah learned to survive and make the best out of her life. She learned to love. She learned to be a parent. She learned to live.

The story of Dinah is repeated over and over again. Song of Songs 5:7 describes another woman lovesick, searching for her beloved at night in the city. Horrors, in the middle of this beautiful love poetry, another example of violence against women? “The watchmen that go about the city found me, they beat me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my cloak from me.”

The story of Dinah is repeated over and over again. The statistics are haunting. Today, one out of four women will be sexually attacked in her lifetime. One out of four. Some now say one out of three. That is more than women who will get breast cancer, one out of eight or nine. Why is it OK to talk about breast cancer and not sexual assault? Why have women’s voices been silenced?

Make no mistake, while the Orthodox have used halachic frameworks to justify their behavior, there is NO halacha that permits beating. Watching videos of these arrests are chilling. It is too reminiscent of the pictures of Kristalnacht. youtube women of the wall arrest How can Jewish men treat Jewish women, any woman, this way? Spitting, throwing chairs, drowning out prayer with whistles, beating. It is not right. It is not halachic. Period.

We do not live in Biblical Israel. We do not live in Nazi Germany. Jewish women have the right and the responsibility to pray. They are entitled to it according to the Talmud (Berachot 23a). In the name of the silent Dinah, I cannot be silent any longer.

57 thoughts on “Kristalnacht, Women of the Wall and Dinah”

  1. Rabbi, thank you for your sharing your story and other women’s stories of courage. I appreciated your beautiful and meaning writing about the many ugly and shameful acts of bully behavior.

    Another “thank you” for the video link to Living Waters. I was deeply moved while watching and listening to your story and the other individuals’ acknowledgement of their self-worth. The stories offered me an opportunity of reflection and gratitude.

  3. Hi! Enjoyed your d’rash. I hope you don’t mind if I quote you in my sermon tonight? I see that you are doing well in Elgin. Wishing you the best,
    Sharon

  4. Hi Rabbi / Margaret –
    Very powerful and moving piece. Thanx so much for sharing.
    Shabbat Shalom!
    (Please send our kind regards to Simon).

    • I appreciate what you are saying Sandra. I think you might have misunderstood. I wasn’t comparing Orthodoxy to Nazism–although that is something that gets charged back and forth in Israel all the time. What is disturbing are pictures of Israeli police officers arresting fellow Jews for doing something–singing Sh’ma–that were the very things that were prohibited in Germany and other places throughout the world. Thank you for adding your “voice” to this discussion. As a woman, you were heard and not silent. Even if we disagree. Exactly the point, yes?

      • Ally Karpel, NFTY Delegate to Women of the Wall 25th Anniversary in Israel:

        “I took in the Orthodox women in our section as well. These Orthodox women and girls were not threatening us. They weren’t screaming, or spitting, or throwing eggs or rocks. Instead, they were showing their opposition to our being there by doing what they always do; praying silently. Though my Western upbringing has taught me that I should always speak up for what I believe in, it began to dawn on me that these women were simply doing what their upbringing has taught them. Suddenly, I began to question whether I was doing the right thing. Who was I to decide that my way was the right way?”

        http://blogs.rj.org/nfty/2013/11/13/women-of-the-wall-and-how-to-move-forward/

        • This is an important point that Ally is making, and since we are all b’nei yisrael, children of Israel and G-dwrestlers, her own struggle and its articulation is another important voice. If you look carefully at the verbs in the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur Torah and haftarah portions there are a number of different ways to pray. Hagar cries out (and the voice of the lad is heard, another place where Midrash needs to fill in the gaps). Sarah does not seem to pray at all (again in the plain text!). Hannah “prays in her heart”, silently with only her lips moving. She weeps and weeps bitterly. Isaiah talks about how to fast as a form of prayer. We are told to make an offering, a sacrifice, another form of prayer, to the Lord in Numbers. Jeremiah’s portion talks about taking up timbrels, dancing, planting vineyards, shouting with joy, shout, sing aloud. Each of these are ways to pray, to communicate with the Most High. Abraham got up early in the morning (Shacharit), Isaac was meditating in the field in the afternoon (mincha), Jacob dreamed (Ma’ariv). Each of these has a place in our methodology. No one way is correct. So Ally’s question, “Who was I to decide that my way was the right way?” is a good question. All questions are good. Wrestling to get to the answers, plural is also good. Orthodox women have just as much right as any other Jewish woman to pray in the way they see fit. How we do that so everyone feels heard is important. The focus needs to be on G-d not on our own trappings. Not on being critical but creating safe, non-judgmental space with access to all who want to pray–which ever verb for prayer works.

          • I agree completely, which is why I do not quite understand your continuing support for WoW… unless you are of the faction that wishes to move to Robinson’s Arch immediately.

            WoW leadership have stated that they come to “see and be seen” and to subvert Jewish women around them; to enlighten them and free them from their abusive Rabbi-handlers. They claim the women are forced to come to the wall, or merely heed the call of their male superiors. There is very little, if any, recognition within WoW that Orthodox women also have rights (a statement Anat recently uttered a month or so ago for the first time). When WoW refused to list Ronit Peskin among the speakers at the GA their explanation was:

            “why would we promote someone who spends her entire day speaking lashon hara against us? We never mention her name because we disapprove of her and w4w’s ideas and methods. They protest womens halakhic prayer at the Kotel, they speak lashon hara and promote sinat hinam at the Kotel. We will NEVER support these behaviors.”

            Yet, if you and Ally are correct, then Ronit and W4W’s actions and methods SHOULD be supported. W4W promotes prayer, albeit in a non-reformed manner. That is just as legitimate as WoW’s reformed prayers, no? Yet WoW refuses to make any peaceful overtures to their fellow Jewish women; to accept their practice or to respect their request not to be proselytized.

            Ally saw through the spin and lies.

            If only all reformed Jews were so open-minded…

      • Yes, you were comparing Orthodoxy to Nazis. & you would be the first to scream if anyone dared to describe WotW as akin to Nazis in that they, too, are out for the destruction of Judaism. See how you sound? I’m betting not.

        • No, I was not comparing Orthodoxy to Nazis. It is you (pl) who first made that leap and I have given you the room, the voice to do so. You have not been silenced as you have charged. Your comments, although hurtful, and ones I do not agree with have been published. It takes me about an hour to figure out how to respond to each new comment, each new attack–and mark my words–whether you mean to or not, they feel like attacks. I am a full time pulpit rabbi. Monday I had a funeral. Tuesday I wrote and prepared and was on the phone most of the day. Wednesday I had Hebrew School. Our annual corn beef lunch was this week and has been time consuming. Today I have done three hospital calls, delivered corn beef sandwiches to shut ins and just finished teaching for three hours. I do not get to respond to each comment in a timely manner. The blog is an adjunct to what I do.

    • This article is about violence- violence against women, violence against Jewish- by Nazis but also by other Jews in the name of God. The problem here is not one denomination or another but those who use violence to control, threaten and violate others. The problem is the leaders who condone violence and do not denounce violence- and bystanders who do not step in to condemn and stop the violence.

      As the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors and a volunteer and advocate for Israel’s Rape Crisis Center I can tell you that the silence of the world allows violence to continue. I will not stand idly by, this is the message of the piece. At the Kotel the violence and threat used against Women of the Wall is permitted, sponsored by Haredi leadership and permitted by the Rabbi of the Kotel to continue. I will not stand idly by.

      • “At the Kotel the violence and threat used against Women of the Wall is permitted, sponsored by Haredi leadership and permitted by the Rabbi of the Kotel to continue. I will not stand idly by.”

        This is complete slander and untrue. The chareidi leadership has condemned the violence, has said many times that that is not the way to act, and these people are going against the chareidi leadership. The only ones encouraging the violence is WoW egging on protestors (we have Anat Hoffman and Tamar Havillio on video doing exactly that) while W4W tries to get them to stop (and being pretty successful at that, despite WoW’s attempts to rile them up).
        You continue to push this lie, and repeat it a million times, hoping someone will believe it, and unfortunately many do.

        • Any violence, against WoW, W4W, men, women or children is wrong. Period. It is true that I was told that I was physically attacked by Israeli soldiers because it was a punishment from G-d because I was a woman who wanted to be a rabbi. It is true that women, worldwide have been silenced. Read Nicholas Kristoff’s book, Half the Sky for much worse examples. While I am a national speaker for Women of the Wall, I have not been at the Wall since 2010 as a member of an interfaith clergy trip, not a WoW sponsored event. At that time I wore my kippah (against the advice of my guide) and I was not harassed at all by anyone. It did lead to interesting discussions in other places in Israel and in Germany waiting to board the plane for Israel in Frankfurt airport. All of those discussions were thoughtful and respectful. The comments on my blog have grown to be no longer respectful. We need to return to a tone of respect.

  6. As I recall, the prohibition of a woman being silent comes from a passuk in Shir HaShirim [Shir Hashirim 2:14] . And as I recall from my Rabbinical studies (before I re-transitioned back to female and realized as a transsexual that Orthodoxy just won’t work for me), halacha cannot be derivative from K’tuvim. Additionally, there is no prohibition for a woman to sing! The prohibition is on the man to listen or hear her sing and thus a man must remove himself from a situation in which he would be “enticed” by the sound of a woman’s singing; not that the woman must be silent or that she must exclude herself….

    • So the men on the other side, the ones who are actually obligated to be there praying, are ultimately, as a part of klal yisrael, being disregarded and disrespected. How is that chessed? Consideration? What- should they just run away when they hear a woman singing? How can they do that in the middle of shmoneh esrei? If we are going to be unified, then maybe we can a help accommodate our brethren who have standards.

      • This is a true issue, and one that I cannot resolve from here. I have not weighed in on the Shransky plan although it seems to have its merits. People, all people, should be able to pray in the manner that fits their understanding of halacha. Men should not spit on, throw chairs, beat up, drown out women. Women should not either. They should not drown out the men. I am not aware of them spitting, throwing chairs or having men arrested but that would be equally wrong. Someone questioned whether they should be up on chairs and therefore more visible, carrying Torah covers. That one may have been ill advised but from the videoclips and live streaming I watched, it seemed to be in the fervor of the moment. I have davenned in any number of Orthodox congregations with any manner of mechitzas. Just wondering if the men have a responsibility then not to look? It is a real question.
        Once, when Women of the Wall were arguing at the Supreme Court level about reading Megilat Esther at the Kotel, I gave it to my high school students as a debate. They came up with two solutions. I was proud of them. The first was a third section. Seemed impossible at the time. The second, having worked at a mikveh, intrigued me. What if, like in Temple times, everyone, everyone, went to the mikveh first. Then there would be no question of ritual readiness/purity. Complicated, time consuming, doesn’t answer the question of Kol Isha. But brilliant. Potentially.

      • I think the point I made was missed by some: It is not permissible to derive halachah from Ketuvim (Shir HaShirim) so the “prohibition” on listening to or hearing a women’s voice is only minhag der-rabbanan! It stretches the incredulous imagination to think that it is immodest for a woman to pray or sing out-loud. If a man derives pleasure from (or intentionally listens to) a woman’s voice the avera is on the man not the woman so why the violent reaction at the Kotel to the women of the wall? This violent conduct is on par with King’s Saul’s conduct in 1 Samuel 18.8-12. It is a public shame on the perpetrators of these crimes against the women of the wall.

        Rabbi Menahem Azaria of Pano, (1548-1620) states that the intent of Miriam was why she sang before the men.
        And what of the Dancing Maidens of Jerusalem found in Tractate Tannit 26b?

        How can there be a “double standard” of deriving a positive mitzvah and a negative mitzvah from Shir HaShirim when it is not permitted to form halacha from Ketuvim?
        Also, given modern circumstances, many rabbis have not held to the minhag of prohibiting a woman’s voice or mixing of men and women in public.

        Besides, all this, halach means to walk, a path! The principal of regilut by modern posskim
        attempt to “level the playing field” as it were by permitting modernity to bring for redemption! Regul means to walk as well. VaYikrah 19.16, 25:17 While rachil means to go up and down wronging others with words! And after all of this, it is Torah which says, “you shall not go near” so enough of the violent enforcement of a minhag which has no place in modern society.
        The world has it’s eye on Jerusalem and the behavior of those opposed to the women of the wall has only served to castigate Jews and the State of Israel as oppressors on par with the Taliban!!!!

  7. Additionally, while it is important to note the debate concerning whether Miriam sang or chanted the song at the sea, the context indicates that All the Children of Israel sang a the sea, not just the men. va’Ta’an should be understood as Miriam giving them instructions (chanting, playing, chanting, playing) till they all could sing in unison and play their timbrels, even as it says that “Moshe spoke AND sang all the words of this song” in Devarim 31.19, 22, 30; 32.44, 45. My research paper on the Copper Scroll (“David Moshiach – Praise Pesher Revision”) found published at yhummasti scribd web site which transliterates the Greek characters on the Copper Scroll into Hebrew reveals through Pesher interpretation the “statute of Sukkot” and infers that Sukkot is primarily “their Festival,” the women’s festival (of Praise) “because of” the Greek transliteration into Hebrew of the word, “Taph” (timbrels or tambourines)…. As well, the text in Shmot 15.20-21 implies that the women separated themselves from the men so really, all the debates are an endless discourse until one resolves the issue of where the women “went out” to or from “to dance” with timbrels! Clearly, in 1 Samuel 18.6-7 song, dance and musical instruments were used and the women sang one to another in the presence of men. What is noteworthy from 1 Samuel is Saul’s response. The playing by David acts to heal and drive away the evil spirit (1 Sam. 16.23) but when the women sing, dance and play the timbrel or instruments, Saul is enraged not at the women but at David’s success. Now we know, that the thing is from HaShem, regardless; so how would Rashi or the other detractors of women singing relate to 1 Samuel 18.6-7????

    • Dear Michelle, you raise very important halachic distinctions. I appreciate you adding your “voice” to the discussion.

      • b’vachashah. I wish I could find the reference to how halacha was formed, where it’s prohibited to formulate halacha from Ketuvim. Maybe I will search through my sforim and post the reference when I find it. But I have a lot of materials to look through so it may take awhile. Needless to say, if one wishes to utilize he’kesh and say women must pray silently as an example of modesty, the fact that the Amidah / Shemonah Esra applies to both men and women should be compelling as to how the “prohibitions” regarding tefillah (prayer) are merely universal minhagim but do not carry the same weight as halachah derived from Torah. The “laws” of the Amidah were derived from Channah’s prayer so this too is based on custom…. anyways, there is much to learn and we should not lose sight of the fact that Torah means just that “to instruct or point in a particular direction.” (I’ll see if I can find the reference about formulation of halacha based on Torah vs. Ketuvim.)

  8. The Ohr HaChaim points out that she cried out but no one helped her because it was the prince doing the act. Ramban also notes that she is strong for having put up a fight even though it was the prince attacking her. I am sure there are a plethora of other examples, but it is late and it is not my job to do your research for you.

    Kindly do not twist reality to fit your close-minded and hateful narrative (equating Orthodox Jews to Nazis, seriously?). The “Rabbis” have not silenced Dinah’s voice; you have.

    • Thank you for adding your voice to this discussion and pointing out two other midrashim about Dinah. There are many midrashim about the rape of Dinah. Some even call into question whether it was a rape at all. Most blame her. Some blame her father. The beauty of midrashim is they fill in the gaps that the text itself, the pashut level leaves out. I identify with Dinah because of my own experience, outlined in the blog. Ramban saying that she was strong because she put up a fight is helpful. But the plain text does not say she called out. Anything other reading, we and the rabbis read in.

      How does the Ohr HaChaim help? I cried out too and no one came to my aid. That makes the “bystanders” guilty as well. I was told I was worse than HItler–by secular Israelis. I was told I couldn’t be a rabbi by modern Orthodox, as punishment by G-d for my rape. That is part of my real story. It is isn’t pretty and it has taken me years to heal.

      The focus of this piece was not to compare Orthodoxy to Nazism. It was to compare previous Rosh Hodesh gatherings where there have been arrests by Israeli police to Kristalnacht. It is clear that during Kristalnacht the police stood down or even participated. It is clear that the police at the Western Wall did arrest Jewish women for the “crime” of singing the Sh’ma. Something that halacha bids every Jew to do.

      What gives me hope is what I learned at the Kristalnacht commemoration in Wilmette. EVERY police officer trained at the Chicago Police Academy goes through the Illinois Holocaust Museum so that they will never be bystanders and so they learn empathy and compassion. I pray for a world that has empathy and compassion for all who are oppressed, for all who are suffering. Oseh shalom bimromav…

      Meanwhile, here is a commentary, a drasha by Rabbah Sara Hurwitz about the rape of Dinah that links it to the same pattern as the Exodus from Egypt. I found this to be a new thought for me. http://www.jewishjournal.com/morethodoxy/item/understanding_the_rape_of_dina_39091202
      At some later date I may to a more exhaustive search and discussion of the rape of Dinah in Midrash.

      • I respect your perspective and have deep sympathy for you given your experiences. There is absolutely no excuse for such base brutality.

        I was commenting on the sentence “Dinah was silent. Dinah was raped. Dinah’s voice was not heard. Not in the Torah and not in the subsequent commentaries and midrashim.” and the surrounding paragraphs. It is simply not true that Dinah’s voice is not heard. Like you noted, the Ramban says she struggled, and the Ohr HaChaim is important because it says she cried out, i.e., no blaming the victim. Do the Cannanites of Shechem bear bystanders guilt? Certainly. Obviously it was a complex political situation (we are dealing with bronze-age royalty, after all, with all the brutality that brings with it). According to the Ohr HaChaim, among others, she was not a meek, subservient woman, but a woman who valiantly attempted to fight off unwanted advances by a much more powerful man. Traditional literature often sees her as strong; not just the weak woman you seem to want the “rabbis” to cast her as.

        As for the arrests, I agree they were wrong. I am glad they have stopped. The government was imperfectly attempting to pacify a dangerous situation. If you read WoW writings it is clear they are not only interested in prayer, but of subversion of orthodox women. This is pretty offensive, and until women themselves organized a staunch counter-prayer service the only way people knew how to express their anger and offense was violently. As MLK said, “violence is the language of the unheard.”

        • The arrests have stopped, for now. Netanyahu said that the Western Wall, our beloved Kotel belongs to all the Jews, not just some. He approves the Sharansky’s plan of a third section. http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/1.532663 Women of the Wall was started by women of all the streams of Judaism, including my favorite liturgy professor, Rivka Haut, who describes herself as an Orthodox Jewish feminist and an advocate for agunot (chained women). And just for the record, it is Reform Judaism because Judaism is continuing to evolve, not reformed.

          • I used “reformed” to include Reform, Conservative, and left leaning Modern Orthodox, sorry for not clarifying.

            As for Ms. Haut, she is a signatory to the referendum rejecting Sharansky’s plan and the author of a highly offensive piece regarding subverting and enlightening orthodox women… I would not hold her up as a shining example of peace and pluralism.

    • This article is about violence- violence against women, violence against Jewish- by Nazis but also by other Jews in the name of God. The problem here is not one denomination or another but those who use violence to control, threaten and violate others. The problem is the leaders who condone violence and do not denounce violence- and bystanders who do not step in to condemn and stop the violence.

      As the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors and a volunteer and advocate for Israel’s Rape Crisis Center I can tell you that the silence of the world allows violence to continue. I will not stand idly by, this is the message of the piece. At the Kotel the violence and threat used against Women of the Wall is permitted, sponsored by Haredi leadership and permitted by the Rabbi of the Kotel to continue. I will not stand idly by.

      • I will overlook your copying and pasting (save for this snarky comment), and respond. I am not sure which Kotel you have been to recently. A) Violence has been roundly condemned by nearly all segments of the religious population (Haredi, DL, etc.), including Rav Rabinowitz. B) Violence has gone down to basically zero since W4W became a force at the kotel. Unless you count some whistles, which even this last month were few and far between (I watched the live stream, it had audio), there has been basically no violence.

        The sensationalism and reductio-ad-hitlerum arguments are counterproductive and only serve to rile up anger among those who are not keeping up with the situation at the kotel, if not blatant lies.

        • Yes. No one is being attacked for “praying at the Kotel” or “just singing the Shema”. Anti-Orthodox activists are being attacked for provoking behavior: shouting, waving tallitot & Torah covers around like banners, standing on chairs to make sure they are seen by the men, “conducting” the deliberately loud singing with prayer books – all disgustingly disrespectful behavior.

          • I saw the women dancing with the Torah covers, standing on chairs. I took it another way, not as disgusting behavior, but in the fervor of prayer. Being happy like celebrating at a wedding.

  9. I wish that Sandra would clarify how she came to conclude that you were equating the Orthodox Jews with Nazism, and, therefore, writing in an anti-Semitic fashion. The Orthodox Jews who behave with such unwarranted aggression towards women who want to pray openly, to wear tefillin and other prayer garb openly, to pray at the Wall, need to be called to account for their un-Jewish behavior. And the only way to call them to account is to write about their behavior. Writing about their behavior is not in any way, shape, or form equivalent to anti-Semitic behavior. That said, it is manifestly clear that the behavior by many Orthodox Jews towards Women of the Wall (and other women, in other circumstances) is disrespectful, violence, abusive, and not Jewish. They have chosen to interpret ancient words in ways that bolster their male-dominated worldview. Thank you, Margaret, for a well-written drash on this ongoing problem.

      • Again, you are correct that comparing other behavior to the Nazis is tricky at best. However, that is what Satmar (a small group of ultra-Orthodox) continue to do. As recently as this July, there was a protest in New York about drafting haraedim into the Israeli army that had posters that made the comparison. The Times of Israel posted an interesting response: http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/a-letter-to-the-satmar-chassidim/.
        I wonder if you read Martin Fletcher’s book, Walking Israel. In it he has some fascinating perspective on the role that the Shoah and Holocaust survivors played in the creation of Israel and how David Ben Gurion, the head of the Labor Party and the first Prime Minister, himself had his reservations. He lumped Holocaust survivors and immigrants from North Africa into “one dismissive phrase: avak adam–human dust. He wondered what they did to survive and once said that the best had died.” (page 71) Very harsh language on all parts and ultimately not helpful.

        • No love for Satmar here. They are flat wrong as far as I am concerned, and I found their holocaust analogy disgusting and in bad form.

          • I should clarify; no love for their holocaust analogies. I have not learned much of their teachings, but I do appreciate that they are intelectually honest regarding their stance on Israel (they don’t like it, they don’t benefit from it)

        • Two wrongs don’t make a right. When WoW was compared to Nazis by some people, they flipped out, calling it immoral. When WoW was compared to Palestinians, they flip out, calling such comparisons immoral.
          But you find no problem comparing those who oppose WoW to Nazis, and Shira Pruce herself compares the police to Nazi police. Why the double standards? If holocaust comparisons are wrong, they’re wrong all around, not just when they’re directed at you. Holocaust comparisons are hurtful and offensive to people who were hurt in the holocaust. My great grandfather, Mordechai Marcus Bohrer, Rabbi of Gailengen Germany, was rounded up on Kristalnacht, taken to Dachau, and died there. Your comparing police arresting WoW for what they understood as being illegal according to the supreme courts decision is offensive to my great grandfather’s memory and all others who died/suffered because of Kristalnacht.

          • Two wrongs don’t make a right. On that we agree. My comments are my own. Shira’s comments are her own. I approved them because I assumed, correctly or incorrectly that she was correct. It is true that in past months Orthodox (I use that term guardedly because I am not sure of which Orthodox and I know that the Orthodox world is not a monolith) women were encouraged to come en masse to the wall on the morning of Rosh Hodesh. Who encouraged? I don’t know. Were women, some women blocked from praying at the Kotel. Yes. BTW, the Kotel is not my favorite place to pray in Israel. My favorite place to davven is the Ramchal Synagogue in Old Akko, where I was warmly greeted as a rabbi by the (Orthodox) rabbi there and given a special blessing on my ordination. I believe that the Shechinah is still present at the Kotel and has never left. But she still weeps over the Kotel. I believe that sinat chinam, baseless hatred is what destroyed the Temple and continues, as this blog illustrates, to be a more dangerous, divisive threat than some of the external ones facing Israel. However, like Netanyahu I believe it belongs to all Jews.

  10. Dear R’ Margaret, it is clear that the grouping of these three areas– Kristallnacht, WoW, and Dinah– has caused people to respond viscerally and emotionally, which is what you intended; Torah and Jewish history can be places of pain, as well as healing, and there are no easy answers. Elie Wiesel said, years ago, that we often ask theological and existential questions for which there are no answers, but, as we age and gain experience, we can ask those same questions from a higher level of experience, and, I would hope, empathy.
    There are so many Jewish communities, today, and many of them cannot communicate respectfully: the Orthodox (I grew up Moderdox, but can never go back) have a garrison mentality; they are, they believe, the only Keepers of the Light. It is sad that the Wall has become an Orthodox shtiebel, when it ought to belong to K’lal Yisrael– but who is, indeed, K’lal Yisrael?
    Let me respond to your three points. As for Kristallnacht– and I am blessed to know survivors, as well– I believe that the entire Shoah loses its meaning if we do not “extend our tent-pegs” to include today’s victims of totalitarianism– who speaks for the prisoners in the Chinese, the Vietnamese, the N. Korean or Iranian gulags? Are these not men and women, our brothers and sisters? I am a human being: can I not say, along with philosopher Marcus Aurelius, “Nothing human is foreign to me”?
    Second: as for poor Dinah– we know so little, and what we know is from a Torah “written by boys, and for boys”– unless we can garner additional meaning from the “Tsenah Oo’r’enah,” we are all free to create our own Dinah, and, as Miriam and the B’note Tselophechad have become latter-day feminists, so let her become one.
    There are women growing up today– I have them in my college English classes– before whom I stand in awe: this one will be a social worker in gratitude for those MSW’s who helped her when her mother died when she was only eight; another leads aid missions to Haiti, whence came her family. They will give voice to Dinah.
    Thirdly: I support the WoW, but Jews make the best anti-semites, and I hate it when sincere and learned Reform and Conservative Jewish women become targets for militant Orthodox Jews, and Israeli police are caught in the middle. That was not the Israel of Herzl’s or Golda’s dream. Something’s got to give.
    And, when Israel is concerned, I set my eyes on the ultimate prize: peace in the Middle East– though that dream becomes murkier, and the dove is flying farther away.
    Thank you for this forum. Ken yirbu.

    • Thank you, Reb David, for putting in the perspective that only you as a yeshiva bucher and male can add. I always appreciate your wisdom and your big picture. Yes, peace in the Middle East. Speedily and in our day. When our boys and girls don’t have to go to war. When theirs don’t either. When we have the luxury of sitting under our vine and fig tree and none will make us afraid. NONE.

  11. I would appreciate some of the dissenting comments more if the tone was less divisive and, frankly, rude: “Ally saw through the spin and lies. If only all reformed Jews were so open-minded…” … “I am sure there are a plethora of other examples, but it is late and it is not my job to do your research for you. Kindly do not twist reality to fit your close-minded and hateful narrative (equating Orthodox Jews to Nazis, seriously?). The “Rabbis” have not silenced Dinah’s voice; you have.” I shake my head in astonishment that RH thinks you are twisting reality to fit your close-minded and hateful narrative.

    • I am sorry you are offended. I did not intend to be overly grating, but some things have to be said. To claim that traditional Judaism promotes rape-culture and to compare Israeli police and traditional Jews to Nazis is seriously divisive, to say the least. A spade must unfortunately sometimes be pointed out for the spade it is. As I said before, the type of hyperbole and broadside attacks present in this article only serve to create more hatred among those who are not closely involved enough to know the facts.

  12. This is a very well-written and thoughtful piece that is unfortunately marred by the bizarre and deeply disturbing comparison of Orthodox Jews to the Nazis.

    • It was not an attempt to compare Orthodoxy to Nazim although many have mistakenly read it that way. I do find it offensive that Jews, any Jews, male or female would be arrested for the crime of saying Sh’ma. That happened. It is indisputable. Those were Israeli police officers, fellow Jews. Not necessarily Orthodox Jews, although I suppose they could be. Not necessarily acting at the behest of the Orthodox community even. Others have made the connection, not me.

  13. I came across this article when a friend posted it on his facebook. As an Orthodox woman of 9 years who was raised Socialist Zionist and still considers herself a feminist, there is quite a lot here I can understand, relate to, and once believed myself. What bothers me the most about this approach to women of the bible, and women at the Kotel, is that in the non-Orthodox approach to Orthodox woman and how we are perceived, there is just way too much assumption and supposition for my comfort. With so many of us Orthodox women having been raised non-affiliated, Reform or Conservative, and so many having been college educated and out in the world even after being raised Orthodox, there are quite a few of us who are pretty with it, knowledgable in Jewish law and history, intelligent and thoughtful. Could it really be that we are as ignorant, blind, subjugated or backward as we are made out to be? Would the story of Dinah really not bother us because we have our heads firmly planted in the sand? Do we not ask the same questions you do? This is what bothers me about this article and others like it – the same thing that bothers me about Women of the Wall. We Orthodox women are *never* asked what we think! Do you have any idea how hypocritical you seem to us?? How can it be that so much bothers you as feminists about Orthodox Judaism visa vi women, but it never occurs to you that a dialog with Orthodox women should be your first priority? You want to know why things are done by men and not by women? You want to know why women seem to have no voice, past or present? You don’t get satisfactory answers from the men? Fine! I didn’t either. I didn’t accept any answers I was given – until it finally occurred to me to ask the women instead! Then everything changed. No matter what your intentions as defenders of women, you cannot expect to be respected by us as feminists until you respect us as women.

    • As a woman who grew up a strong Conservative Jew (I attended Solomon Schechter for k-5 and Young Judaea from age 8 until 18) I appreciate this immensely. The idea that I did not bring my deep and plentiful life experiences along with my ability to learn and grasp the tremendous wisdom of the Torah and our sages (yes even the women sages, considering many of my teachers at Neve Yerushalayim were female) and that I gave up my intellect to the will of men is ludicrous and insulting. My love for Israel and my feminist ideals were not subdued by Mosaic ideology but were confirmed instead. I am shocked when people I grew up with are so surprised by the logical, sensible and sensitive answers I give them when they find the courage to ask about Torah Observant Judaism- it is almost as if THEY have been silenced: “Don’t bother asking them anything- it’s just spit-back and all of the men just control them. They can’t even wear clothing showing their elbows or a boatneck shirt. Dumb.” I only wish more people would ask.

      • So I am asking. What would work for the men–short of saying the women can’t be there or can’t be heard?

        When were you at Neve? I was too in 1981. I agree that the Torah and its commentators, men and women both, show tremendous logic and sensibility. And the home hospitality and hachnasat orchim shown by Orthodox families in Yerushalayim is a thing of beauty. I remember fondly sitting in someone’s house during Rosh Hashanah that year and counting the seeds of a pomegranate. I also remember all the families going to tashlich. Orthodoxy itself is not the problem. It has never been the problem. The problem is always with individuals. Whether it was an individual who chose to participate in the attack on me (secular Israeli soldiers), whether it is an individual who chose to make a comment that was not helpful in my healing (an NCSY rabbi, or the program leader at Brandeis, a secular Jewish institution), whether it is Israeli police who arrest women because they are just following orders, Whether they are in a leadership role representing (and sometimes misrepresenting) halacha. That is what the original article before we all got mired in the comments, was trying to suggest. Never that Orthodoxy by itself is bad or like Nazim.

        • I identify as a Conservative Jew and I have also had many conversations with Orthodox women, including those who are members of Women For The Wall. I have great respect for each individual woman, how each individual womanwants to pray / daven and their chosen lifestyle. It’s just not for me. I am grateful to Women of The Wall and their efforts because, without them, I don’t think that the Israeli government would’ve agreed to “clean up” and make the third option or the alternative prayer area viable.

          Also, I too was taken aback (and extremely upset – think of Ernie Cortez’s description of “Cold Anger”) when Anat was arrested for reciting the Shema at the Kotel. Let’s think about this – the Romans murdered Rabbi Akiva while he was reciting the Shema, the Crusaders slaughtered our people while they were reciting the Shema, so did the Nazis. And in Israel, our Jewish homeland, a Jewish person is arrested because she recited the Shema out-loud? (Which, BTW, I was taught that you are supposed to recite the Shema as loud as you can.)

          And, ironically, NO ONE ELSE at the Kotel thought that it was wrong to arrest someone reciting the Shema??? The women from Hadassah didn’t do anything. Neither did the Orthodox, Secular and other women who were present. I know that if I was there, I would’ve immediately formed a linked circle around Anat and told the police that they were wrong.

          And I want to thank you Rabbi for giving a voice to Dinah – I also feel that her voice is missing in the text and Dinah is hardly ever mentioned by our current Rabbis – instead they focus on Jacob’s wrestling / dream or meeting up with Esau, etc.

  14. As an Orthodox Jewish female I find the implications that violence is inherent in Orthodox culture completely offensive and ridiculous. As a granddaughter of survivior I find any comparisons of Jewish behavior to Nazi Germany disgusting. It is baffling to me that a Rabbi would attempt to associate sectarian differences with these emotionally charged topics. I find this Dvar Torah offensive and manipulative. As a women who always thought of herself as a feminist, I am disheartened that women calling themselves feminist would use feminist ideaology to silence and deligitimize the beliefs of Traditional women. Respect is needed in this situation not manipulation.

    • The implication was much more of Israeli society, not of Orthodoxy. I agree that respect is needed on all sides. My most prized book is one called Lashon Hara with a subtitle “Guard Your Tongue.” The point of this essay was to give women a voice. It has clearly done this, even if not all of us agree. At this point we all need to tone the rhetoric done a notch. That would be the Jewish way. Although even as I write that I am reminded that my father’s definition of a Jew is someone who questions, thinks and argues. Back to the parsha in question, that is what we have done here–wrestled. We are in fact G-dwrestlers.

  15. You said Dinah had the chance to be a parent, but I thought that Othnoth was given away soon after her birth. She was the product of Shchem. I asked Nechama Price, an award winning teacher at Stern College about her. She wrote: “Osnat is not really found in the text of the Torah other than that she married Yosef. We hear nothing about her. In the midrash there is discussion of her being sent away, but to be clear this is not in the pesukim at all.
    She fits into the theme of those who are not from the right family being sent away- like Yishmael (wrong mother) and Lot. However, realize for every midrash with one idea, there is others with the opposite. There are also midrashim that call her a righteous woman and compare her to other imahot!! ” If she married Yosef and was compared to the Imahot, I can imagine that, despite the difficult situation Dinah was in, there was tremendous resolution, a true t’shuvah and potential there. We see that in tanach with Ruth and Boaz as well.

    • This is brilliant. Thank you for this contribution. (ALthough I think it was one of the other commentators who said that Dinah had a chance to be a parent.) For me this is new learning, chidush. Thank Nechama Price for me as well!

  16. This kind of blog and comments only promotes LOSHEN HORA and MOZET SHEM RAH and causes a CHILLUL HASHEM!!!!!

    • And how are the comment streams themselves not Loshen Hara? I think we all need to be careful how we speak in social media. ALL OF US.

      • Right now I am reading this one and it is full of slander and one who starts this kind of blog is responsible

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