Modern State of Israel

[pbel]

http://news.yahoo.com/israel-holds-10-women-wearing-prayer-shawls-holy-100222804.html

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli police detained 10 women at one of Judaism's most sacred sites on Monday for wearing prayer shawls, which Orthodox tradition sees as solely for men, a spokesman said.

The incident at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City highlighted the divisions between the more liberal streams of Judaism and politically powerful Orthodox groups that traditionally limit the role of women in prayer.

The Western Wall is administered under strict Orthodox ritual law, which bars women from wearing prayer shawls or publicly reading from the holy scriptures.

Among those held was Susan Silverman, a reform rabbi who is a sister of U.S. comedian Sarah Silverman. Two other American citizens and Israeli members of "Women of the Wall", a group that campaigns for gender equality in religious practice, were also detained.

The group routinely convenes for monthly prayer sessions at the Western Wall, revered by Jews as a perimeter wall of the Biblical Temple in Jerusalem. Some of its members have been detained by police in the past for wearing prayer shawls at the site and released without charge.

Susan Silverman, who immigrated to Israel from Boston, said police escorted the group, including her 17-year-old daughter, to a station after they refused to remove prayer shawls.

The rabbi said in a telephone interview from the police station where the group was held that they had been among more than 100 women attending the hour-long prayer session.

"They (police) said 'take off your prayer shawls', and we said 'no'," Silverman said. Once the prayers were over they were escorted away, she said.

Micky Rosenfeld, a spokesman for national police, said the women had acted "against regulations set by the High Court", citing a decision of a decade ago upholding Orthodox rules at the site to avoid friction between worshippers.

 

[Lipush]

The police things is kinda out there, but I really don't understand what those ladies are trying to achieve.

Tallit is not a cloth for women. and women in times of prayer should not be in crowd of men. That's just basic knowledge and is disrespectful for both men and women.

I don't know what they're trying to do.

 

[pbel]

the police things is kinda out there, but i really don't understand what those ladies are trying to achieve.

tallit is not a cloth for women. And women in times of prayer should not be in crowd of men. That's just basic knowledge and is disrespectful for both men and women.

I don't know what they're trying to do.

equality!

 

[Lipush]

This has nothing to do with equality, Pbel.

If there would have been men in the Ezrat Nashim were women pray, it would have been disrespectful towards women. Same goes the other way around. As a woman myself I see nothing of equality, more like humiliating religious feelings of the crowd of men and disrespecting the place.

Women should not do that and not wear Tallit either. It simply is disrespectul

 

[irosie91]

It's a "cause" that excites me about as much as
did the BRA BURNING fests of the 1960s.
There is no question that there are some inequities
between men and women. In fact men have
complaints too----but why waste energy on
nonsense? I object to the IMPORTANT STUFF---
short person unfriendly super-markets

 

[RoccoR]

pbel, lipush, et al,

There are many religious cults and followings that make grave distinctions between behaviors, as it applies to gender. It is one (but not the only one) of the practices that has withheld the advancement of social gender potential and the recognition of accomplishments of the (so called) weaker sex.

the police things is kinda out there, but i really don't understand what those ladies are trying to achieve.

tallit is not a cloth for women. And women in times of prayer should not be in crowd of men. That's just basic knowledge and is disrespectful for both men and women.

I don't know what they're trying to do.

equality!

(COMMENT)

It is probably more true than not, that there are many gender based laws that are endorsed and enforced simply to keep the peace between those that are more enlightened and those that those that have not advanced in the cultural understanding that the opposite sex is an evolving gender companion and resource that requires the companion gender to keep pace.

Gender-defiant actions, as noted in the article, are a symptom of frustration by the opposite sex that segregation by gender is archaic and needs to be reassessed by the companion. While it is clear and most obvious in some western cultures that intellectually, industrially, and philosophically gender is irrelevant, that is a relatively recent development in humanity; something we've seen come to the forefront only in the last couple of centuries. Middle Eastern cultures, especially those dominated by religious turmoil and complex disputes internally, have flawed societies crippled by fundamentalist teachings that advocate gender segregation in the community acceptance, in social gatherings, in commerce, leadership and business. It cannot and should not be expected that such religiously influenced cultures recognize the evolution of the species relative to gender. However advanced you might think a nation or society is, if it is overly influenced by the fundamentalist teachings of ancient and archaic religious concepts, it will exhibit flawed gender behaviors as one of the manifestations of a religion that does not evolve.

There is a direct correlation between cultures that are heavily influenced by stagnant religions and the behaviors they demonstrate at the community level, in the interaction beween adjacent cultures, and the international level with global implications.

Most Respectfully,
R

Most Respectfully,
R