For me I found it very hard to get to a strong feeling of worship. All the noise and guns and outside influences made it very hard to get to a spiritual place. When Robin took her Tallit and wrapped it around the three of us it summed up for me why we were there. I did however feel the warmth and power of this small but mighty group of amazing women that are fighting to help claim Judaism for all Jews.
Wendy
I decided to participate in this morning's demonstration from more of an historic point of view. We can all agree that it's ok to agree to disagree and that it should be done peacefully, and that is how I feel about the overall situation. I wanted to be present at an historic event. It was unclear what to expect, although when my friends and I arrived at the meeting point to take a bus to the wall, I was pretty surprised to see so many police officers, police vans, police cars and a police motorcyclist. The reality of the tension of the situation became quite clear when an Israeli soldier boarded our van and took a seat - machine gun and all.
The caravan to the wall was intense. As we got closer to the entrance where we would get out of the vans, there were more and more Orthodox Jews, police and soldiers standing on each side of the road. When we all finally disembarked, I began to really feel anxious that something bad could actually happen. While the security was definitely comforting, it was so hard to gauge what we would encounter. While standing on the sidewalk all the women began to sing, and suddenly I felt like whatever happens, it's ok - I'm with my sisters.
We were directed to walk on a path that kept us shielded from the rest of the crowds, until we finally reached a fenced in area put together just for us. As we came into the open, the men began to yell - all together in one big voice as if to drown us out. Some Orthodox women came to our partition and started yelling at us and praying very loudly, it seemed as an attempt to distract us.
I felt like I was absolutely in the right place at the right time. Together, we went through an entire service, including a Torah service. The prayers were comforting - some very familiar, some not so much. We sang together, most everyone with bright smiles, some women jumping up and down to the beat - in happy excitement. I felt connected to each of these amazing, strong women. We were doing what we wanted to do; go to the wall and pray - wearing tallit if we chose, t'fillin if we chose, holding hands, sharing a tallit among sisters. We were protected by Israelis. It was joyful and good. At one point, I looked up to a bridge that was overhead. There was a line of men, maybe seven in all, and they were watching us. One of the men saw me looking at him, he had a big smile on his face and gave us a thumbs up.
The voice in my head was saying to my grandparents, who perished in Auschwitz, here I am!
Tamar BenArdout
I went with Gil Shuler early this morning to the Western Wall, to show support for my wife and other female friends from KKBE who were attending a "Women of the Wall" gathering. We found ourselves caught within the ranks of the Jewish men who were protesting the gathering. These Jewish men (primarily Chassidic) were howling, ranting and bearing insulting signs about the "Women of the Wall", simply because the women wanted to pray together singing with some wearing a kippah or a tallit. I was appalled by their behavior toward the women and I had to ask myself,"Is this how they would treat their mother, sister or wife?" It certainly isn't an example of G'milut Chassadim. One of their signs stated that the Women of the Wall are "trying to create a new religion". There are many flavors of Judaism. We don't insult them for their flavor, why must they insult us for ours. I was so proud of our KKBE women as I watched them stand their ground. I also give many thanks to the incredible Israeli soldiers (male and female) and Jerusalem Police force who stood by to protect our "Women of the Wall".
David Frederick
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSwUO4GjkRY
Robin
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