Rabbi Debra R. Hachen
Questioning of Women of Wall leader sparks protests
An open letter to Ambassador Oren
I have been following the recent events in Israel concerning the Women of the Wall.
I was shocked by the Nov. 18 arrest in Jerusalem of Nofrat Frenkel for asserting her religious right to pray at a designated area near the Kotel. Forbidding women to express themselves by singing and reading Torah in what should be a public holy space is deplorable.
Then I read that Anat Hoffman, executive director of the Israel Religious Action Center, was brought in for interrogation and fingerprinting on Jan. 5 and could be charged with violating laws because she was holding a Torah near the Kotel, the Western Wall of the Temple Mount.
Vayechi - Joseph’s tears
Parasha Yitro
I’ve been thinking lately about the divisions cropping up among friends and neighbors in this economic recession. One person finds herself bringing home a solid paycheck in a field barely touched by the difficulties of our time. Another, equally well educated and hardworking, finds himself out of work after years of effort and apparent success. I am only a rabbi, not an economic analyst, but I cannot help worrying about the self-doubt that many who have lost their jobs are expressing in private.
