An Instant In An Eternity

You have to be courageous in life. But you have to be careful not to cross the line from courageous to stupid. The line between courage and stupidity is thin, sometimes transparent. Don't trip. I think about this a lot here in Israel and in life as a woman. I think that for women being courageous comes across differently than it does for men - girls are described as bossy and boys are leaders, for displaying the same behaviors. And in Israel you can be rude and offensive or firm and decisive about what you want - and the gender lines seem to be less black and white here, too. Being far away from the US has afforded me a certain level of perspective on the Democratic process of governance in the United States. At the same time, my level of awareness is lower because I am not 100% tuned in to the 24 hour news cycle there. And I would say I am getting about the same level of engagement and awareness here in Israel with my limited reading skills (and time) for the news. What I am s...

The whole uproar over the Women of the Wall (WoW) continues in the media as each month they gather for the Rosh Chodesh morning service at The Kotel. Recently, in The Times of Israel there was an excellent piece by Hannah Katsman on Tolerance . Her point is just outstanding and articulates well what I have not been able to articulate for years. It's important and nuanced and needs to be internalized. I recommend reading her whole piece. But I'll attempt to extrapolate from it here a bit. Asking others to meet your stricter religious observance in fact is a level of intolerance. There has to be room at the table for everyone. The problem with the protests of the WoW is that they are being told that their presence and prayer are offensive to the most religious and that we must cater to the needs of the most religious to make space for everyone at The Kotel. But that ends up ONLY making space for the most religious and not leaving room for the less religious who find spiritu...