Walled In
Rabbi Moshe Grylak
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
I have this niggling feeling of cognitive dissonance at their insistence, with such heart-rending mesirus nefesh, on conducting their ceremonies at the Wall. Why pick on the Kosel, of all places, to demonstrate their aspiration to be like men in every way? What did the Kosel ever do to them?
Do the Women of the Wall share this vision? Do they dream of a rebuilt Beis HaMikdash where they will bring offerings as our ancestors did in ancient times? Do they envision Kohanim slaughtering oxen and lambs as the sacrificial blood flows through the stone conduits around the Altar? Is this what they were praying for on Rosh Chodesh Sivan, when they recited the Musaf prayer amid all the hullabaloo, a prayer that pleads for restoration of the sacrifices?
Women of the Wall, is this what stirs your hearts? If it is this yearning that drives you, then stop the nonsense and join all the other good Jewish women who pray regularly at the Wall with tears and with joy. But Mesdames, with all due respect, does this kind of prayer really jibe with your sensibilities? Does it harmonize with your individualism, with the liberal philosophy you picked up from a crumbling Western civilization? The Kosel ought to be the last place you would choose as a venue for your prayer gatherings.
But how can I expect logic or consistency in the religious behaviors of people from communities where, in many instances, even the rabbi asserts disbelief in G?d? Who are they praying to, then? Who knows and who cares? The main thing is that they get to conduct a prayer service.
Is there anything left to say?