This week, the Jewish calendar intersected with the Israeli calendar. On one hand, we marked the 10th of Tevet with a fast to mourn the siege of Jerusalem in the First Temple-era. On the other hand, in the Israeli media, the focus was on the government's retreat, once again, from the Western Wall compromise, with the intention of leaving control of the site to just one group in the Jewish world.
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Jerusalem, the Temple, the Western Wall, these are physical places, but now the dispute over the symbol of Jewish sovereignty and the Jewish faith is within us. The Sages said the Second Temple was destroyed due to baseless hatred, that is, quarrels between the various Jewish groups and between individuals. Here in the State of Israel, we have yet to learn the lessons of the destruction of either the First or Second Temples.
One single group has taken over the Western Wall and refuses to respect the traditions of other streams in Judaism that pray differently. It does not respect their theology, their thinking, or the choice of women and those with other worldviews.
This same group does not understand the most basic concept of all: As Jews, variety is part of our DNA. This is not new but rather something that has existed since time immemorial: the schools of thought of Hillel the Elder and Shammai, which were followed by the three sects of the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes. Yet these synagogues exist together, alongside one another, and do not threaten to decimate and destroy one another.
Our ability to thrive as a people for generations upon generations despite the disasters that have haunted us is precisely thanks to the Jewish variety that points to the life, prosperity, and discourse that takes place between the various viewpoints and hones our spiritual world. It is a real shame that in our time, this dialogue, which exists everywhere outside of Zion and Jerusalem, is fading among the various Jewish groups in Israel.
The Western Wall should not be one religious group's synagogue, no matter what that group may be. It is a national site and the symbol of so many hopes and prayers. Every Jew, no matter who they are, male or female, should feel at home there. This should not be a place of violence, fanaticism, spitting, and cursing.
My wish is that on next year's fast, we learn from the past and look to the future, so that we have a Western Wall that contains all members of the Jewish people. Without this unity, there can be no future.
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