Women At The Western Wall Analysis

Quote: “...when women are held up as models, the purpose is to support an androcentric model or structure.” (Anderson, p. 47)

“Almost any object or even person can serve as a symbol: that is, serve to represent something else.” (Anderson, p. 54)

“We need to re-liberate the cotton” (Elterman)

“There’s a conversation about whether or not Jews can pray at their holy place” (Sharon)

Question: Reading Leona Anderson and Pamela Young’s book Women and Religious Traditions “Women in Judaism” and watching the two video clips concerning Women at the Wall by the New York Times and The Jerusalem Post I was upset to learn about the sufferings these women are facing. What upset me is that fact that these women are forced to conform to an androcentric …show more content…
Elterman states, “supreme court ruling prevent them from wearing prayer shawls or praying with the torah as they would like to…” with the reasoning being that it “would provoke outrage among the ultra-Orthodox who dominate.” Hearing this made me extremely upset as this is a violation of human rights. Also, the argument that one religion cannot participate in their rituals as it would cause distress among another religion is an irrational argument. All religions should have equal rights to participate in their own rituals. While Jewish women continue to “re-liberate the cotton”, fighting for their rights to pray how and when they want at the Western Wall, their fight should be fully supported as “separate is not equal” like Elterman states. Jewish women need to continue their fight for equality not just within the synagogues but also within their country as a whole. I believe that if these women can look back and reflect upon the changes that they have made thus far, they will be able to recognize that what they are doing is actually making a difference and be able to push themselves to continue their