I do not believe that what happened in Jerusalem the other day on Rosh Hodesh was really an example of baseless hatred but rather something even more serious.

By now, the story has been told and retold many times. The group known as Women of the Wall was holding their monthly Rosh Hodesh service in the women�s section of the Western Wall. Many were wearing tallit and tefillin. When the time came for the Torah reading, the leader, Anat Hoffman, following the agreement reached with the religious authorities began to carry a Sefer Torah from the Western Wall area to Robinson�s Arch, the area outside the Kotel courtyard where egalitarian services are permitted.

This time, however, she was stopped by a policeman who attempted to take the Torah from her claiming that she was violating the idea of �minhag hamakom�, the custom of the place. She was physically assaulted and brought to the police station and later released.

I take the idea of minhag hamakom very seriously. When we travel to Israel and visit an Orthodox synagogue, of course I do not insist that the women in the group sit with the men. I do not sing out the Ashkenazic version of a prayer while everyone sings the Sephardi one. Respect for minhag hamakom has its place.

And I suppose one could claim that the authorities at the Kotel had their custom and Anat Hoffman, regardless of whether they had reached prior agreement on the carrying of the Torah could have simply accepted the request, covered up the Torah in a bag or figured out some other way to get it out to Robinson�s Arch. By the way, Robinson�s Arch is a place more conducive to prayer and more meaningful than the hubbub filled kotel courtyard but that�s somewhat besides the point. Perhaps she should have just gone along with it and respected what this policeman claimed was minhag hamakom.

But, I don�t think that would have been right and I will tell you why. Minhag Hamakom is not an excuse for treating people with disdain and disrespect. And, minhag hamakom doesn�t work in this case for three other reasons as well.

First of all, it doesn�t work because the kotel does not have to be a �synagogue� where women and men must be separated at all times. Too many times, places in Israel have been turned into �religious sites� with all of the accompanying rules when previously they were treated as historical locations where the Rabbis didn�t make the rules. Case in point: Rachel�s Tomb. I used to stand on this bima year after year after year telling you on the 2nd day of Rosh Hashana to listen to the words of the Haftarah in which the prophet Jeremiah comforts our matriarch Rachel with the words; �you children will return to your borders�. I told you that you had to go to Israel and to make a stop at Rachel�s Tomb and read the words inscribed on the tomb: �your children have come back to your borders�. What more meaningful words could there be for a Jew traveling to Modern israel.

But, you may have noticed I don�t mention Rachel�s Tomb any more. The place used to be quiet and modest with a few women wailing as is traditional. And now Rachel�s Tomb, for the past 15 years or so, has been turned into a synagogue. Men in the front, women in the back door, a huge mechitza, it just isn�t the same. And the same goes for the kotel.

In 1984, when I led a group to Israel, we had an egalitarian service in the courtyard of the Kotel, outside the mechitza area but right among everyone else. I would not suggest doing that today. The decision to turn this holy place into a place at which only one custom is allowed is an insult.

And, secondly, of course, that brings up the fact that it�s one thing for me to here at Beth Israel to claim minhag hamakom- if someone doesn�t like the fact that we do not do one thing or another can go to another synagogue in town where they could do that. But when there is only one kotel and, more importantly, when there is only one State of Israel, how are we supposed to react when we are told that something which comes so natural to us, that we believe in as Jews, is against the local custom and therefore not permitted?

And that brings us to the most important reason. I can�t speak for Anat Hoffman but I can speak for myself. I am much more willing to be sensitive to minhag hamakom when I am treated with respect, talked to kindly and accepted as a legitimate Jew. Context is everything. And the context in Israel today is frightening for those of us who are not Orthodox Jews.

The conversion bill which I wrote to you all about last week threatens to further undermine the status of non-Orthodox Jews in Israel even to the point of designating all non-Orthodox and even most Orthodox Jews by Choice who became Jews outside of Israel as not qualifying for the law of return. Anecdotally, I can tell you that that is already happening on some occasions but it will happen in all cases if this bill passes and in that context, the actions against the Women of the Wall was even more offensive. I understand that Orthodox Jews do not like to see women carrying a Torah. But, the hatred, the anger, the physical attacks, here and other places, including the story of the woman who was assaulted in the Beer Sheva bus station because her arm had markings on it that indicated she had put on tefillin are unjustifiabe. Yes, in that last last it was only one man who attacked her but it didn�t take place in a vacuum. It took place in an atmosphere of deligimitization of non-Orthodox Jews by those whose interest is to see Judaism practiced their way and their way alone.

One of my non-Jewish clergy colleagues said to me the other day: but, aren�t the ultra Orthodox glad to see more Jews praying and studying even if they don�t do it their way? The answer is quite simply: no. They would rather be the righteous remnant, a small group of stalwart defenders of the faith (as, some will tell you, observed at Sinai right down to the peyis and the black coats), then see people find meaning in other forms of Jewish expression.

Now, it is critical to realize that this is not the viewpoint of many or most Israelis. In fact many many Israelis find this horrendous. We have two guests with us from Moshav Nahallal, our partnership community, whose moshav, founded as non-religious community has recently developed a program of contemporary prayer and Jewish observance and study and Shabbat joy. It is an example of what is happening in many places in Israel. More and more secular Jews are finding meaning in non-Orthodox forms of Judaism and it is certainly uplifting to see that. It is the ultra orthodox political parties which, because of their role in the government, enable this kind of legislative and ritual travesty to take place and then continue to take potshots at Conservative and Reform Jews as being creations of the diaspora and not authentic.

Let me also say though that not all orthodox Jews approach things in the same way. I know many who delight in Jewish life no matter how it is lived. They, like I, will not accept everything anyone else does, but at least they will honor it and say: �in your place, this is a wonderful minhag, here we do differently�. If words like that were said, if opportunities in Israel at holy sites would be more pluralistic, perhaps non-Orthodox Jews would be more willing, out of respect, to compromise a bit here and there.

Jerusalem was destroyed because of sinat hinam, baseless hatred. This is not sinat hinam. This is a calculated, thought out political position which says that our way and no other way, is what it means to be a Jew.

Israel has many serious issues which it faces, the threat presented by Iran, the threats of Hamas, economic issues and more. But, make no mistake that this is a critical issue. And, if the leadership of the nation, led by Prime Minister Netanyahu, who have promised to fight against any change in this law are unwilling to follow through with their promises or unable to succeed, then many of us here in the diaspora, and I include myself among them, who love Israel and are emotionally wrapped up in what happens there and who are completely invested in her future will be left to wonder where we stand.

Robert Dobrusin, Rabbi
Copyright © 2010, Robert Dobrusin.
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This message was originally posted on July 22, 2010.

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