By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal
SAN DIEGO — This week I wanted to write about Miriam, Moses’ and Aaron’s sister. The Torah records that after the Children of Israel crossed the Sea of Reeds in their escape from Pharaoh, “Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her in dance with timbrels. And Miriam chanted for them:
‘Sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously;
Horse and driver He has hurled into the sea.” (Ex. 15:20-21)
Miriam has a notable role in the Exodus story. After Moses’ mother saved him from death by placing him in a basket among the reeds of the Nile, Miriam stationed herself nearby to watch. When Pharaoh’s daughter rescued Moses, it was Miriam who suggested that he be nursed by his own mother. Because of Miriam’s goodness, the midrash informs us that a well of sweet water miraculously followed the Israelites throughout the desert wherever they journeyed.
I was looking for similar beautiful commentaries to share about Miriam when I came upon the following:
“Miriam took a timbrel in her hand….in order to hide the voices of the women singing, lest they be heard by the men.”
This comment immediately called to mind the ongoing controversy in Israel over the role of women in society. As I had written in a previous D’var Torah, some Chareidi rabbis were urging their followers to boycott any event in which women sang, including soldiers in the IDF. Women are being forced to the back of so-called “religious” buses and spat upon in public if they are deemed immodestly dressed.
On Thursday evening, Feb. 2, Anat Hoffman addressed the Jewish community at an event held at Congregation Beth El. Although I could not attend that evening, I was invited along with other synagogue leaders to meet with her for lunch.
Hoffman is Executive Director of the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC), the legal and advocacy arm of the Reform Movement in Israel. As such, she also represents all other Jews who are interested in advancing pluralism and religious rights in Israel. She is also chairman of Women of the Wall. In their own words, “As Women of the Wall, our central mission is to achieve the social and legal recognition of our right, as women, to wear prayer shawls, pray and read from the Torah collectively and out loud at the Western Wall.”
On Dec. 6, 2010 Hoffman was arrested for carrying a Torah Scroll on the women’s side of the Western Wall. She was charged with violating a Supreme Court decision forbidding women from reading the Torah at the Western Wall.
Hoffman spoke to us about the growing problem of women being segregated and denigrated in Israel’s public spaces. She specifically cited women being forced to the back of special “religious” buses and ultra-Orthodox Israeli male soldiers boycotting IDF ceremonies in which women sing. She told us that such actions are blatantly against Israeli law and must be opposed.
IRAC does so by suing those involved in any such discrimination, including the Israeli government itself. She related that the Israeli public has forcefully protested the exclusion of women singing at IDF ceremonies, and that the “freedom rides” of women sitting in the front of “religious” buses has caused their number to decline from 2,500 routes a day to 1,000.
When asked what we can do to help, she said that if we love Israel it is our duty to write Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other members of the Knesset to protest the segregation of and discrimination against women in the public square. Just as we were heard when we raised our voices over the “Who is a Jew” issue, so will Israeli politicians take note when we protest the continued incursion of the mores of ultra-Orthodox into Israeli civil society.
Discrimination against women is an issue which not only affects Israelis, but everyone who loves and treasures Israel and the values upon which she was established.
For more information about the Israel Religious Action Center click here: http://www.irac.org/
For more information about Women of the Wall click here: http://womenofthewall.org.il/
Please allow your voice to be heard.
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Rosenthal is spiritual leader of Tifereth Israel Synagogue. He may be contacted at leonard.rosenthal@sdjewishworld.com