A Moment in Time: “Don’t Ever Tell Us that it Can’t be Done”

Shalom from Israel, where I am participating in the Central Conference of American Rabbis convention. We are learning about the joys, milestones, and complexities of Progressive Judaism in Israel.

Wednesday morning was groundbreaking. 150 of us made our way to the Kotel, the Western Wall, to join with Women of the Wall, an organization that has met for over 34 years once a month for a simple purpose: to allow women read from a Torah scroll at the Wall.

We stood in a line for close to an hour waiting to get through security. The officers weren’t only checking for weapons of physical destruction. They were also making sure that no one was hiding a Torah scroll on their person. In the eyes of some zealots, the Torah in the wrong hands leads to spiritualdestruction.

Mind you, Israel is a progressive nation. Women have been part of the fabric of the country at every level since its birth. But there are still mountains to climb with regard to religious equality. Men and women were separated as we entered the area nearing the Wall.

It was an intense morning. As I stood in support with male colleagues (again, the women were on the other side) protesters hurled insults, shoved bodies, and insisted: “this can’t be done.”

Security worked hard to protect us.

Gilad Kariv, an Israel Reform Rabbi and a member of the Knesset, was able to bring a Torah scroll through to an area near the Wall (but not at the Wall). In spite of the incredible difficulties, he held it high and the women on the other side of the divider chanted the text.

It was a perilous, nerve-wrecking, and yet glorious moment in time.

Despite the forces working against us, we persevered to pursue equality.

Sigh – there is a long way to go. But no one should ever tell us it can’t or shouldn’t be done. We will climb the mountain. We will cross the desert. And we will march until the walls of separation tumble.

Yes, the Wall is a sacred place. But more sacred than a structure are the people. And we can never forget this.

I wish you love and shalom,

Rabbi Zach Shapiro