As we begin blowing the shofar, we awaken and remember past Eluls at the Western Wall. With our 33rd Rosh Hodesh Elul on its way, Women of the Wall look to the past and see what we've accomplished in 32 years.
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Until 2013, it was illegal for a woman to sound the shofar at the Wall. If a woman even attempted to bring a shofar into the plaza it would be confiscated. Ridiculously enough, it was even proposed to the Knesset to be punishable with 7 years imprisonment, the same punishment for statutory rape. Luckily, this law was not passed.
In April 2013, the landmark decision was made by the honorable judge Moshe Sobel stating that Women of the Wall's prayer service had earned formal recognition as a local custom at the Wall. Since our practice includes blowing the shofar on Elul, going forward it would be considered legal for a woman to do so. As the first group of women, sounding dozens of shofars at the most significant site for Jews worldwide, we demonstrated distinctly that women too can take part in this powerful moment.
It seems that we only recognize a historic moment in retrospect. As author Amos Oz brilliantly once said, "Life is like driving a car with its front window opaque. All you have to go by are your rearview mirrors."
I recall when the Jerusalem Municipality honored the men who blew the shofar on Yom Kippur between 1920 and 1938 at the Western Wall while it was still under the British Mandate. They were praised for the grit and bravery they showed by breaking the law to fulfill this mitzvah. One of the honorees, Jacob Aharony, said, "I felt no fear, blowing the shofar is an act of national liberty, and I was willing to go all the way."
When WOW sounds the shofar at the Wall, it is an act of liberty and independence. While we may not be applauded by all at present, in the not-so-far future, I predict that Women of the Wall will be honored too. Our tenacity in showing that there is more than one way to be a Jew in Israel, and for pioneering women's rights in the frontier of religious practice in Israel.
For years we saw dozens of women yearning to take part in this mitzvah but were hesitant because they feared it was beyond their physical power. We took this fear head-on and as the first group of women to offer shofar workshops in the public sphere, Women of the Wall has taught hundreds of women to sound the shofar. While we cannot offer a workshop this year because of the pandemic, we can proudly say that the majority of women who partake in sounding the shofar in Israel have learned from us. Their blasts demonstrate women taking a hold of their Judaism with brazen pride.
Our shofar blast is our message. Looking at our past, I see how we have sounded it loud and clear. There are countless ways to be Jewish, and each Jew has the right to take part. Women of the Wall carved a niche for women and all Jews at the Wall, we've made history. We were the ones who enabled women to pray out loud, to say kaddish, to read megillah, to sing selichot, and to sound the shofar. We have empowered women to be able to make their voices heard at the Western Wall.
I invite you to listen to our message. I encourage the new Israeli government to listen as well. We have found ourselves in a time where groups of ultra-Orthodox women are holding Tehillim prayer groups at the Western Wall, praying out loud, unknowingly thanks to Women of the Wall. Women from all streams of Judaism are benefiting from our hard work, and while I can't predict the future, this much I can say. Women are participating in their Judaism in a way we haven't seen before. The past provides a glimmering hope, but the present grants undeniable evidence that soon the shofar sounds ringing through Jerusalem will be those from men and women alike, all Jews, partaking in the mitzvah together.
It is time to end the ultra-Orthodox monopoly over religious practice at the Western Wall. As a group of women from all streams of Judaism, we are demanding tolerance, religious pluralism, and gender equality.
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