WOMEN of the WALL

The Women of the Wall are an Israeli group of women who go the Western/Wailing Wall in Jerusalem monthly for Rosh Chodesh, celebration of the new month on the Hebrew (lunar) calendar, welcoming the new moon.  Seems harmless to most sane people.  However, the Orthodox religious authorities, in keeping with their traditions of intolerance, ignorance, hatred and misogyny, along with the complicity of the Israeli/mostly Jewish police due to Israeli law, harass and attack these women verbally regularly.  Religious leaders also bring in school children raised and “educated/brainwashed” into their cult to harass, yell and scream at these women while they are praying.  How much more disgusting can these embarrassments be?  One recent case, for the month of Adar, on February 18, 2026 they actually tore apart 39 of the prayer books of the Women of the Wall.  The Israeli police did make arrests.  They arrested 2 of the Women of the Wall.  Why?  For donning a prayer shawl.  If anyone wonders where the Muslims learned their misogyny from?  Look no further than these ultra-Orthodox who have been allowed to get away with this due to the silence of other Jews.

While the (mis)leaders of the Jewish community push and sometimes demand that Jews be "proud", I read about this disgusting behavior by those who are considered the "real" or "true" Jews, by more than a few Jews and non-Jews, and feel anything but "proud." Shame and ashamed is much closer to the truth and I hate to admit that hatred is also a feeling that any decent person will feel when reading about such injustice. 

In 2012/5772 Yael Hoffman, then leader of Women of the Wall, was also arrested due to these horribly intolerant ultra-Orthodox Jews and the complicit Israeli police.  Due to laws that allow this injustice.  Yael was arrested because she wore a prayer shawl and uttered the Shema prayer aloud. If people wonder why people hate Jews (which I don't believe Jewish people do, they seem to simply want the hatred stifled) this disgraceful behavior by the allegedly "true" Jews would be one of a myriad of reasons.  It is sad and frankly inexcusable for people to support, excuse and enable such disgusting behavior, by people who are allowed to hide behind their religiosity. Spare me the excuses as Israel allows them, the true enemies of Jews to lead Jews to further destruction. At least these women open their mouths.  These are the enemies of the Jews. Stop looking out here and over there. These ultra-Orthodox are the enemies of Jews. Face the facts already and stop being respectful. They have earned DISRESPECT and need a hefty dose of that. I'm not holding my breath however. God help and protect the Women of the Wall against these enemies of the Jewish people. In Moshiach's Name I pray.

After Yael Hoffman was arrested the Jewish leaders organized a “community” event at (Reform) Temple Emmanuel in Beverly Hills and actual Orthodox rabbis even attended (normally Orthodox will refuse to step foot inside a Reform temple).  I told myself that I would keep my mouth shut, because one can generally only offer praise to the egomaniacs who lead the Jewish community.  I have little praise, if any, to offer.  However, the Chabad (an ultra-Orthodox outreach organization) rabbi who came up from Orange County stated that the separation of men and women dates back to both temples in Jerusalem.  I could not remain silent (though I had told myself to do so).  I got up to speak.  I mentioned to the rabbi and the other rabbis and those in attendance that these 2 temples were DESTROYED!  Did he not see any connection to this destruction and the tradition of gender segregation?  The rabbi proceeded to make a joke, which was to say that when it comes down to it all Jews will be caught in the bear trap together.

When the evening ended and I was departing, someone yelled out across the foyer, “blasphemy” in my direction.  There were only a few people still inside the temple foyer area and no one seemed to have heard this or paid it any notice.  I however, heard “blasphemy” loud and clear.  The young man who yelled this out had on a personalized yarmulke (Jewish skull cap), clearly he was an “Orthodox” Jew.  At the time and frankly for years after I gave this little thought, as I continued to try and extricate myself from being Jewish.  Because the lesson I had taken from studying the Holocaust and Jewish history was that one simply cannot be Jewish in this world.  Besides that it is dangerous to criticize this community from within and I pretty much had only criticism to offer, constructive and otherwise.

It dawned on me years later, while discussing this with a friend, that Jesus/Yeshua was, according to the Gospels, handed over to the Roman authorities for “blasphemy”.  In other words, for saying something.  For saying something that Jewish (mis)leaders did not like.  Jesus/Yeshua called himself the Son of God and gave pretty decent evidence of some kind of extraordinary power.  Rather than acknowledge the obvious, the power hungry leaders made Jesus/Yeshua out to be the problem.  Handing him over to the Roman authorities to have him crucified would be the Jewish leaders’ solution, if one believes the Gospel version (and even if one does not believe the Gospel version, over 1 billion Christians on this planet do).

Hence, I realized, albeit years later, that this cry of “blasphemy” in my direction was not to be taken lightly.  The rejection of Jesus/Yeshua remains central to Jewish life, with the Orthodox holding most fervently to the hatred displayed 2000 years ago and reinforced over these many centuries.

One other experience came to mind, which I believe is also a connection to this ancient problem in Jewish circles of NOT respecting “freedom of expression.”  I was at a Torah study at a Reform (liberal) synagogue/temple.  The Torah portion (the 5 Books of Moses aka the Torah is divided into portions so that within 1 year the 5 Books are completed) included the story from Leviticus 24:10-23 of a boy who blasphemed God’s Name.  ^10 “Now the son of an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father went out among the Israelites, and a fight broke out in the camp between him and an Israelite. ¹¹ The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name with a curse; so they brought him to Moses. (His mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri the Danite.) ¹² They put him in custody until the will of the Lord should be made clear to them.

¹³ Then the Lord said to Moses: ¹⁴ “Take the blasphemer outside the camp. All those who heard him are to lay their hands on his head, and the entire assembly is to stone him.”

I had read the Torah and the rest of the Bible (including the New Testament) decades earlier, but had not given much thought to this passage/story.  When I heard it at this Torah study my thoughts about it were what seemed like something no one else had considered.  I thought that God was fed up.  Why are these people coming to me with such a trivial problem?  The boy probably said ‘Goddamn,’ or something similar in whatever language they were speaking at the time.  At the time of this Torah/Bible study I had been teaching in very challenging middle schools for many years.  I had evolved from disciplining students for foul language to mostly waiting for a pattern of foul language before disciplining, to making sure students kept their hands to themselves.  Because if I disciplined every curse word I’d never be teaching anything.  The job title was teacher, not disciplinarian. 

I felt that God was fed up and He had given up and said basically fine, go ahead, kill the boy, hoping they would come to their senses and realize how ridiculous it was to kill someone for saying something, especially a child.  Yet, they did go and kill the boy.  “¹⁵ Say to the Israelites: ‘Anyone who curses their God will be held responsible; ¹⁶ anyone who blasphemes the name of the Lord is to be put to death. The entire assembly must stone them. Whether foreigner or native-born, when they blaspheme the Name they are to be put to death.”  “²³ Then Moses spoke to the Israelites, and they took the blasphemer outside the camp and stoned him. The Israelites did as the Lord commanded Moses.” 

I felt like God was giving people over to their sins.  God gives us free-will and I believe that God expects people to question, to challenge and to rebel.  To rebel against injustice and stupidity.  And I believe it is both unjust and stupid to kill someone for saying something.

What further surprised me that evening was what this Reform rabbi said.  She said, something to the affect that because this story is in the Torah, that it is good.  I didn’t say anything, but I thought yeah, it’s good to understand how stupid and unjust and intolerant people were then and apparently still today if they think stifling of bad words and killing those who express them is in any way, shape, or form helpful, constructive, wise or just.  It also shows, and this is a theme in Jewish life, a real lack of understanding of God, where certain people are revered (namely rabbis) and God is given short-shrift, if any consideration at all.

My main point is that killing someone for words, is at the core of Jewish tradition that apparently precedes Jesus/Yeshua being put to death for “blasphemy”.  Hence, the bedrock principle of freedom of expression in American/Western society is lost on Orthodox Jews and it seems on less Orthodox Jews as well.  Which is why I have scoffed that Israel, a Jewish state, run by Orthodox Jews could or would be a Democracy.  Many love to say this, but what the religious Jews have done to Women of the Wall is a prime example of why I don’t believe them.

Please know I am not only pointing fingers.  I offer a solution, which I believe is from God and I need your support.  Please take some time to look at my website: www.theleviteline.com.  You can also find on Facebook my page also entitled The Levite Line.  Many of my more recent thoughts on this and other issues can be seen there.  Please help me/us to bring about the heart (lev in Hebrew) of God’s covenant with the House of Judah and the House of Israel and all humankind.