Posts
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What do many traditional Jews and the Pharaoh from Exodus have in common?
They don't think women need to pray!
"And Pharaoh’s servants said unto him,... Let the men go, that they may serve the LORD... And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters... And he [Pharaoh] said unto them... Not so: go now ye that are men, and serve the LORD..."
(Ex. 10:7-11)
“Women, slaves and minors are exempt from reciting the Shema prayer… but they are subject to the obligations of Prayer…”
(Mishnah Berakhot 3:3)
“exempt” eventually became “not a priority”… when synagogues (as we know them) were being formed, women were busy with the home and the kids, so they couldn’t make it to prayer services all the time—THAT’S why they were “exempt.”
While it’s more complex than those two excerpts, it’s fairly obvious that men are the priority in most traditional/Orthodox prayer services. Women cannot read from the Torah, lead services are counted in the minyan (quorum of 10 adult male Jews necessary for a complete prayer service).
Now, since I am married to woman who studying to be a rabbi, I am clearly biased.
I also think women should be allowed to read books and use in-door plumbing.
But hey, that's just me.
I have prayed several times in a synagogue with a mechitzah (rhymes with "the pizza"), which is essentially a prison for women.
Every time I pray in a synagogue with a mechitzah, I have to resist the urge to act like Tobey Maguire in “Pleasantville” or Tracey Turnbladd from "Hairspray"-- Just run in front of the entire congregation, push the rabbi aside, tear down the separating wall and yell, "People! People! Listen to me! You don't have to live like this! Now… everybody dance!"
Roe v. Wade, Rosie the Riveter, Helen Gurley Brown, etc.
I want to tell the ladies, "Women, you deserve to be equal to the men! Get up, stand up... don't give up the fight!"
But then... that is what America tries to do all over the world.
"Come on, you should have a government exactly like us! Live like WE do!"
If I force religious people to live like me, and become less traditional, then I'm just as bad as religious people who would force ME to live like THEM!
There’s constant tension in Israel. This past November 28th, the wife and I went to a demonstration on Ben Yehuda Street because a woman was arrested at the Western Wall for wearing a tallit (prayer shawl), which is traditionally worn, only by men in Haredi (ultra orthodox) communities.
I have prayed several times in a synagogue with a mechitzah (rhymes with "the pizza")
Mechitza shul
What is a mechitzah?
According to The American Heritage® Dictionary (4th ed., 2009):
“A partition erected in the seating section of an Orthodox synagogue to prevent the mixing of men and women.”
[From the Mishnaic Hebrew ḥāṣaṣ, to divide]
A “mechitzah” is the separation between men and women in most Orthodox synagogues.
It is often a lattice, like all the Jewish men are peering through a fence, Huckleberry Feinstein.
But other synagogues put the women behind the men, in the back of the synagogue, or in a balcony.
Either way, I don’t care for it. This wasn’t always the case—in my more traditional days, when I was even MORE insecure around the opposite sex, I appreciated a Mechitzah—when I was 17, and girls were always on my mind (and not in my life), it was a relief to prayer away from them, to avoid distraction. But I was a clenched fist of sexual repression. Now I use women!
... to feel closer to God. They sing better than men! So let’s have ‘em sing! And they are as much a part of a praying community as men. Let’s sit together.
But in Israel, it’s not that easy.
Israel is a country of contradictions.
A modern country, just 62 years old... yet one of the most ancient, continually-inhabited lands.
Science, technology... place of the Bible
Women serve in the army, and as Prime Minister (Golda Meir, 1969-1974)... but multitudes practice a brand of Judaism that limits their rights and their voice (Literally... one rule in observant communities is that a woman cannot sing in front of men... because her voice may excite them).
The problem starts with the Bible (what a shock!)... the second WORD in the Bible.
…and the ninth word.
2nd word: “barah” = “[he] created”
9th word: “haytah” = “[she] was”
The first word was the act of God (implied to be a man).
The second word refers to the earth (implied to be feminine).
God, the man, created the world, the woman
In Hebrew gender is reflected in verbs, like in French or Spanish or most languages... but not English.
I gotta give proverbial snaps to English.
No gender.
“The Lord is a man of war” (Exodus 15:3)
Coincidence-- as I was writing this, my wife (a rabbi-in-training... and a lady) came home singing the old spiritual “Down to the River to Pray,” known to most of us thanks to Alison Krauss and the Cohen brothers' film "O' Brother Where Art Thou":
"As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good old way...
Oh sisters, let's go down/
Let's go down/Come on down..."
Great tune (notice I didn't make a sexual innuendos about that last couplet... classy, as usual).
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Monday, February 1
No more pencils, no more books
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“Teach… your children well”
-- Crosby, Stills and Nash
Teaching our kids—
A priority for us all, hopefully.
It’s certainly been a priority among Jews.
It turned into a stereotype—the Jew with the glasses, the bookworm, the smart kid. Doctor, lawyer-- professions that require a lot of studying.
Why?
And since when?
How long have the Jews prioritized education?
Well, for a while.
Even before NBC ran their “The More You Know” campaign.
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD…
“And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children”
(Deuteronomy 6:4,7)
“And ye shall teach them your children…”
(Deut. 11:19)
Teaching is key.
In the Hebrew version of verse 7, the word used for “teach them diligently” can be translated to mean “impress upon them.” A teacher taught me that children are like clay, and you shape their minds and ideas the way you give shape to a Play-doh.
Or, as Rodgers and Hammerstein put it—“You’ve got to be taught to hate and fear” (from the musical “South Pacific”)
So, Jews teach their kids…
Now, the preceding verses appear in the Sh’mah prayer, which I mentioned in my last entry. This prayer is said every morning and evening by observant Jews and is known (at least partially) to most Jews who have ever attended synagogue once in a while or a little bit of Hebrew School.
Which brings me to my Celebrity Moment of Nakhas!
(Nakhas means pride)
May 26, 2009-- Kevin Pollack's Chat Show: a weekly internet talk show, where the host has a two hour conversation with an artist/Hollywood persona.
Kevin Pollack is best known for supporting roles in "The Usual Suspects" and "A Few Good Men," and for his marvelous impressions of Christopher Walken and William Shatner.
He is fond of saying, "I was raised so Reform that I was practically Catholic."
ha ha... (eye roll).
Unfortunately, this is the predominant attitude of most Jews in America-- They're Jewish in as much as they eat bagels and enjoy "Seinfeld" reruns.
That’s the way it is.
Then we hear from the guest-- Josh Malina, the well-articulated, nebishy actor from Aaron Sorkin's "Sports Night" and, more famously, "The West Wing," where his character, Will Bailey, eventually replaced Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe) in the 4th season.
Although raised as a Conservative Jew, he attended an Orthodox yeshiva growing up,
Westchester Day School in Mamaroneck, New York.
(Cool Coincidence-- Josh's first major role was as an understudy in Sorkin's stage version of "A Few Good Men").
He makes me proud!
"My recollection, even back to first grade... is that Ethics was a big part of what I got at school. Ethics, living a moral life--
I knew on Friday mornings you had to bring a little bit of money for tzedakah, charity, you put a little money in the pushke-- the little box, and say, 'mitzvah g'dolah la-tet tzedakah'-- 'it's an important mitzvah, commandment, to give charity.'
At the age of six... and that always sat well with me."
Yay! Three cheers for Day School! I, myself went to a Jewish day school, then high school, then college at JTS-Columbia. So, from the age of 5 until 22, half my studies were Secular (Math, Science, English, etc.) and half were Jewish studies.
Or, as Josh Malina puts it:
"A lot of people have the 'God, I hated Hebrew School' thing.
(Kevin Pollack interjects: "Well, that is a whole other beast")
Well that's true... this was hard-core Hebrew School-- half day English, half day Hebrew, Torah and Jewish Studies.
I loved it."
Yay!
And he has two kids that he is raising in a Reconstructionist Jewish household.
And he's been on the TV box, where I watch my stories!
Hooray for Jews!
.
“Teach… your children well”
-- Crosby, Stills and Nash
Teaching our kids—
A priority for us all, hopefully.
It’s certainly been a priority among Jews.
It turned into a stereotype—the Jew with the glasses, the bookworm, the smart kid. Doctor, lawyer-- professions that require a lot of studying.
Why?
And since when?
How long have the Jews prioritized education?
Well, for a while.
Even before NBC ran their “The More You Know” campaign.
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD…
“And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children”
(Deuteronomy 6:4,7)
“And ye shall teach them your children…”
(Deut. 11:19)
Teaching is key.
In the Hebrew version of verse 7, the word used for “teach them diligently” can be translated to mean “impress upon them.” A teacher taught me that children are like clay, and you shape their minds and ideas the way you give shape to a Play-doh.
Or, as Rodgers and Hammerstein put it—“You’ve got to be taught to hate and fear” (from the musical “South Pacific”)
So, Jews teach their kids…
Now, the preceding verses appear in the Sh’mah prayer, which I mentioned in my last entry. This prayer is said every morning and evening by observant Jews and is known (at least partially) to most Jews who have ever attended synagogue once in a while or a little bit of Hebrew School.
Which brings me to my Celebrity Moment of Nakhas!
(Nakhas means pride)
May 26, 2009-- Kevin Pollack's Chat Show: a weekly internet talk show, where the host has a two hour conversation with an artist/Hollywood persona.
Kevin Pollack is best known for supporting roles in "The Usual Suspects" and "A Few Good Men," and for his marvelous impressions of Christopher Walken and William Shatner.
He is fond of saying, "I was raised so Reform that I was practically Catholic."
ha ha... (eye roll).
Unfortunately, this is the predominant attitude of most Jews in America-- They're Jewish in as much as they eat bagels and enjoy "Seinfeld" reruns.
That’s the way it is.
Then we hear from the guest-- Josh Malina, the well-articulated, nebishy actor from Aaron Sorkin's "Sports Night" and, more famously, "The West Wing," where his character, Will Bailey, eventually replaced Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe) in the 4th season.
Although raised as a Conservative Jew, he attended an Orthodox yeshiva growing up,
Westchester Day School in Mamaroneck, New York.
(Cool Coincidence-- Josh's first major role was as an understudy in Sorkin's stage version of "A Few Good Men").
He makes me proud!
"My recollection, even back to first grade... is that Ethics was a big part of what I got at school. Ethics, living a moral life--
I knew on Friday mornings you had to bring a little bit of money for tzedakah, charity, you put a little money in the pushke-- the little box, and say, 'mitzvah g'dolah la-tet tzedakah'-- 'it's an important mitzvah, commandment, to give charity.'
At the age of six... and that always sat well with me."
Yay! Three cheers for Day School! I, myself went to a Jewish day school, then high school, then college at JTS-Columbia. So, from the age of 5 until 22, half my studies were Secular (Math, Science, English, etc.) and half were Jewish studies.
Or, as Josh Malina puts it:
"A lot of people have the 'God, I hated Hebrew School' thing.
(Kevin Pollack interjects: "Well, that is a whole other beast")
Well that's true... this was hard-core Hebrew School-- half day English, half day Hebrew, Torah and Jewish Studies.
I loved it."
Yay!
And he has two kids that he is raising in a Reconstructionist Jewish household.
And he's been on the TV box, where I watch my stories!
Hooray for Jews!
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