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JULY 18, 1996 35¢ PER COPY Whose Wall Ls It, Anyway? Progressive Jews, Women at Likely to Be Undermined Or Set Study in Israel for a Year

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JULY 18, 1996 35¢ PER COPY Whose Wall Ls It, Anyway? Progressive Jews, Women at Likely to Be Undermined Or Set Study in Israel for a Year ·'" l ., ) · r ~;r > r !t- o ·., " _j { l ;.I l I, I,, '1.'' IL· re I ,1 :,l] r\ ·I~'( ,:)E· I I f· r' ( ',.11 ":lj l P. r r: 41 lll ,,,,,l,!l,l,,il,,,,ll,,,,11,,l,,l,l,,l,l,,l,,il,ll,,, ,l,l,I Rhode Island Jewish Jewish Community HERALD PAGE 3, 6, 8, 9 The Only English-Jewish Weekly in Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts VOLUME LXVI, NUMBER 35 AV 2, THURSDAY, JULY 18, 1996 35¢ PER COPY Whose Wall ls It, Anyway? Progressive Jews, Women at likely to be undermined or set study in Israel for a year. This back. past Shavuot, the holi day mark­ the Wall and the Ultra- "I think people underesti­ ing the giving of the Torah by Orthodox Battle for mate what are the full implica­ G-d to the Jewish people, a tions of the Israeli elections," group of students gathered un­ Judaism's Holiest Site warned Rabbi Jerome Davidson, der the starry Jerusalem sky at by Yosef I. Abramowitz executive vice presid ent of the the Kotel plaza for an egalitar­ "Jerusalem was destroyed congregational wing of the Con­ ian prayer service. because justice was perverted . serva ti ve movement. " It will "They wanted to pray with people insisted upon the fulfill­ create a chasm in Israel and a men a nd women together," said ment of the exact law and never schism with the diaspora." Rabbi Robert Golub, executive sought compromise." - Tal­ Adds Miriam Benson, legal director of Mercaz, the Zionist mud (Baba Batra 30b) li aison for the International arm of the Conservative move­ Orthodox feminist Blu Committee for Women of the ment, "so they stood all the way Greenberg approached the To­ Wall: "Since Jerusalem is the in bac k, far from the Kotel and rah resting on the rickety table, eternal capital of the entire Jew­ the mechitza separating men three feet from the Kotel, the ish people, then the Kotel does and women." Western Wall of the ancient Jew­ not only belong to the Charedim The mechitza, the partition, ish temple. She took the cloth (ultra-Orthodox). If we let the was erected in 1967aftera group used to wrap the scroll, touched forces of injustice win in Israel, of Reform rabbis from the it to the Hebrew words, and we will all lose." United States tried to conduct then kissed it gently. "Blessed The on-going struggle of a n egalitarian service a t the are You, King of the Universe, Women of the Wa ll to co nduct newly liberated site. The ultra­ who selected us from all the services at Judaism's holiest site Orthodox community, encour­ people and gave us His To­ is a microcosm of the dynami cs aged by Rabbi Yehuda Getz, rah ... " she chanted in Hebrew. in Israeli society that have spear­ protested, and prevented the headed coercive Orthodox leg­ American rabbis from conduct­ JOSEPH SUBOTNIK, SUPER-ACHIEVER, will be spending islation a nd prevented the ing their service. Getz was sub­ five weeks in Israel this summer at the Weizmann Institute of legitimiza tion of Reform and sequently named by the Minis­ Science. When women create Conservative Judaism. try of Religion the administra­ their own congregations, Fai I ure by this sma II tor of the Kotel and held the halachically constituted group position until his death last year. Subotnik Heads for Weizmann the shechina (G-d's - with thousands of support­ As with any major holiday, presence) is not present ers worldwide - to secure the Ko tel plaza two months ago Joseph Subotnik, of Provi­ in the five-week program are prayer rights is also a litmus test was filled with tens of thousands dence, joins 17 other hi gh school trips to Israel's most modern and their prayers are of diaspora interest in influenc­ of worshipers, mostly ultra­ graduates this summer at the science-based industries and not heard ... instead of ing the Jewish character of Is­ Orthodox who stream in on foot Weizmann Institute of Science desert field trips. kedusha (holiness) we rael. It also exposes some fun­ from nearby neighborhoods. As in Rehovot, Israel. Subotnik is the son of Dan damental and disturbing weak­ the American students prayed, He will spend a month study­ and Rose Subotnik. He was a have kedesha nesses in American progressive they were harassed and verbally ing at one of the world's fore­ semi-finalist in the West­ (prostitutes). Judaism. a bused by some ultra-Orthodox most research centers and par­ inghouse Science Talent Search Efforts by Women at the Wall men. "Asur. It is forbidden," ticipate in an exclusive program and was a recipient of chemis­ Rabbi Menashe Klein to pray as a group within the they shouted at the rabbinical of science lectures and labora­ try and math awards. He was bounds of Jewish law have been students, and interrupted their tory work. also chosen as a National Merit met with violence, ridicule and prayers. A line of police officers Now in its 28th year, the Dr. finalist. A recent graduate of political contempt. After months surrounding the students pre­ Bessie F. Lawrence International Classical High School, he will "As I began the blessing, I of tension in 1988-89, the Israeli vented any physical attacks. Summer Science Institute brings attend Harvard University in heard yelling from the other Supreme Court ruled that the "As American Judaism in the together an international group the fa ll, concentrating his stud­ side," said the author of How to women can pray at the Kotel past 30 years embraced the par­ of talented future scientists. ies in physics and chemistry. Run a Traditional Jewish House­ silently, without a Torah and ticipation and empowerment of These 71 teen-agers from 18 While at the Weizmann Insti­ hold. " It came as a real surprise without their prayer shawls women, ultra-Othodoxy be­ countries (including China, tute, he plans to study particle to me. I couldn' t understand. until a political solution is found. came more extreme and exclu­ Singapore, Yugoslavia, Colom­ physics. What was wrong with people The previous Labor Govern­ sive," said Jonathan Sarna, bia, and Uruguay) wi ll meet The Weizmann Institute is coming to pray together at the ment finally made a recommen­ Braun Professor of American with the scientists in hopes to one of the world's foremost cen­ Kotel? I had no idea this would dation this past April: If women Jewish History at Brandeis Uni- do research in fie lds of their in­ ters of scientific research and blow up into a major political wanted to pray with a Torah, (Continued on Page 15) dividual interest. Also included graduate study. issue." they can do it in Moslem East Greenberg's aliyah at the Jerusalem, outside the Old City. Kotel was the first by a woman, The Supreme Court has re­ and was undertaken by an Or­ cently given the Israeli govern­ Reform Leaders Accuse thodox-leaning group that la ter ment until July 29, 1996 - five became known as Women of days after Tisha B'Av, the day Rabbi of Inciting Violence the Wall (WOW) . commemorating the destruc­ Eight years later the right of· tions of the Temples - to rec­ by Debra Nussbaum Cohen to kill Reform Jews much the tated the action by an extremist women to pray co llectively al ommend how to secure the NEW YORK OTA) - Israel's same way the convicted assas­ 'reli gious' Jew last November," the Western Wall is one of the ri ghts of all Jewish worshippers Sephardi chief rabbi made re­ sin ofYitzhak Rabin cited justi­ said Rabbi Shmuel Goldin, chair most volatile and unresolved at the Kotel. If Binyamin marks this week that have been fication in Jewish law for his ofShvil Hazahav,orTheGold en political and reli gious issues fac­ Netanyahu's government re­ interpreted as ca lling for the violent act. l'ath. ing world Jewry. With the Or­ sponse is anything similar to murder of Reform Jews, spark­ The head of Shvil Hazahav, In a sermon recentl y a t thodox religious parties mar­ that .of the previous ing a sharp response from the an organization which repre­ Je rusale m's Tifereth Yerush­ shalinga record 23 Knesset seats administration's, he wi ll seek leaders of the Reform move­ sents Orthodox Jews who sup­ alayim synagogue, Rabbi Eli ahu in the latest Israeli elections - a n extension a nd delay ruling ment. port the peace process, ex­ Bakshi Doron compared the bib­ and their recapturing control of on the issue, predicts Benson. They are concerned, sa id pressed similar co ncerns. li ca l figure Zimri to Reform Jews, and praised Pinchas, the man the Ministry of Religious Affairs "It's si mply l~o. ~ol." Rabbi Lennard Thal, vice presi­ "If what was reported lo have who murdered .linui for having - Orthodox feminists and pro­ dent of the Union of American been sa id by the rabbi is true, it sexual relation~ with a non-Jew­ gress1 ve Jews face a new world Rabbinical students from the 1-Iebrew Congrega tions, lhal the co uld be viewed as incitement b h woman. where demands for equality and Conserva ti ve movement's Jew­ chi ef rabbi's sermon could be similar lo those words which r centadvanct"lmplura li hmare ish Theological Seminary often viewed by someone as license were reported lo have precipi- (Conl1J1u('d llll Pag\'.' l C"i) 2 - THE RHODE ISLAND JEW ISH HERALD, THURSDAY, JULY 18, 1996 INSIDE THE OCEAN STATE He's One of the 'They' Nature Conservancy Fund-Raiser Scheduled for Books on the Square has Hits 10,000 Acres Mark scheduled aneveningwithSam Meeting Street Beard, one of the people news­ The Nature Conservancy Horned Rush, and one of the casters mean when they say, purchased a 22.45-acre piece of rarest dragonflies, the Banded Meeting Street By The Bay, a "They say the economy will ..
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