Women of the Wall, Temple Mount Activism, and the Dilemmas of Jewish Feminism in an Occupied Space 4/3

One part of the reading that I found interesting was how Women of the Wall (WOW) brings together different types of Jewish women from different groups, such as Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform. I really enjoyed reading about this because sometimes certain Jewish groups, like the Orthodox, view certain other Jews who aren’t as religious, negatively. I have personal experiences with that. For example, I live by the beach in New Jersey, and there is a large Syrian Jewish community a few towns over from me. Some of them are very unaccepting of other Jews like myself because we practice Judaism differently. The Syrians are modern Orthodox and have passed down their own traditions. “WOW was able to break all barriers between Jews and unite them” (Shitrit 207). At the end of the day, we are all Jewish, and we all believe in one G-d, so I thought it was very powerful that they talked about breaking barriers between people. There is no such thing as a “better Jew”. That kind of unity stood out to me. What surprised me was how WOW kept their group nonpolitical. Even though they had members with very different views, they still worked together. I think that’s something people should think about. There is so much war and death because of disagreements, but if we all just think about the bigger picture, we can live a better life.