Eventually I'll update about life...

Tonight we heard from Dr. Tamara Cohn Eskenazi, the editor of The Torah: A Women’s Commentary and it was truly inspirational. I cannot believe I will get to learn from her in the future – just an hour of listening to her tell the story of how this text came to be was just wow (no better words. I’ve tried). I had tears in my eyes for a large portion of the evening (did I seriously just admit that?), but this just felt like a big coming together of my passions for Judaism and feminism and they have been brought together in this awesome book that I will one day totally devour/use as inspiration/teach from (We get copies when we get back to the states! Luckily not here… zero space in my baggage for another huge book). Her theme throughout her talk was just how ideal and enjoyable the experience of creating this publication was. The process took nearly twenty years from its original conception to publication, with Tamara being deeply involved for about a decade. The editors wanted (and succeeded in creating) a commentary that was intellectual, challenging and yet accessible for both women and men across all denominations and even those outside of the Jewish world.

The organization of the commentary is very intentional and went through many revisions. It first was presented in Talmudic style, but this felt foreign for many of the reviewers. Ultimately, the text is organized by parshiot (always the intention) with an introduction and overview, text in both Hebrew and English and then a sentence or two to introduce the four commentaries on each parsha. The text gives the traditional translation found in the chumash used in many Reform synagogues (with few exceptions, this is word for word the same translation), then four alternative commentaries/readings – contemporary interpretation, rabbinic interpretation, another reading of the text and a poem. The poems came about somewhat organically… she said no one remembered how they came to be included, but they are added to give the reader another way to connect with the text. While the editors give the pasook (verse) that inspired this specific poem to be included, it is up to the reader to postulate as to how the poem connects with the text. She talked about hours long conversations of poetry reading between the editing team trying to find the right one. Sounds like a beautiful experience.

Besides the fact that I am so excited to learn from her in LA, I am really thankful this commentary exists. The other students who had used it before commented that the texts do not focus on the victimization or marginalization of women and instead aim to elevate women’s stature in the text and employ a woman’s perspective on the various laws/stories/histories in the Torah. I believe this helps the text gain recognition and stature outside of the progressive Jewish feminist community, which we learned was a big goal of the editors. I’m still geeking out a bit about the whole thing and it made me really want to dig up some of those old WGS readings.

In other news, week three of classes start tomorrow! There’s a whole bunch else I want to update this blog on, but this was just an experience that I needed to write about asap. Life is good, super busy but things are beginning to settle in. Our summer schedule is pretty crazy but I hear we get even busier so I’m trying to appreciate the few free afternoons I have while they still exist!

Those who sew in tears shall reap in joy

So I'm already relatively failing at keeping this blog up, but at the encouragement/pushing of some people, it's time to blog again!

This past week has been orientation. It's been a while since I've been at one of these, and it was about 10 times more exhausting than I remembered. Luckily there was no book about poverty we were forced to discuss that no one had actually read (hey WashU 2010!), but between speakers, Q&A sessions, tfillah, setting expectations, walking tours and more, our days were packed! Overall, I really enjoyed the week - getting to know my classmates, learning more about the YII program and hearing from some of our future professors. Each person who spoke to us was incredibly passionate, excited and incredibly knowledgeable. The depth and insight about each detail, story and historical fact is truly remarkable. I cannot wait to learn from them!

While I continue to process what actually happened during orientation, I want to first write about two events from last week that are still on my mind. In this post, I'll write about my experience with Women of the Wall and later will blog about my Freedom Ride with IRAC. I knew about both of these opportunities before coming to Israel and was excited that both could occur within my first two weeks of being in Israel. Even though we had to be ready at an ungodly hour, nearly half of my class dragged themselves out of bed to participate in WOW. Unlike my experience with WOW last summer, we needed to arrive as one group due to increased security threats in recent months. With police escort, we bussed up to the kotel plaza where we could immediately hear screaming and booing. I was near the back of the group as we approached, and was surprised when we stopped in the first plaza beyond security. I couldn't even see the kotel. It eventually made its way through the crowd that thousands of orthodox girls had been recruited to fill the kotel plaza to block our entrance. While some were blowing whistles and participating in the shouting, from the photos and first-hand accounts, it seems that most of the girls were just standing there, talking, checking their cell phones and waiting. I can't help but wonder what was going through their minds at that time. What did they think of us? Did they wonder how it felt to be on the other side of the barrier? I know I tried to put myself in their shoes as I tried to process how they must feel so threatened as to attempt to drown out someone else's prayer. We are all Jews, we all want to pray at our holy site and yet we are suddenly divided. The police barrier became a symbol of all that divides us instead of the deep history and tradition that should unite us. It was honestly pretty depressing and challenging to find meaning in my prayers that morning.

However, about halfway through the service, a young girl was invited to the center to read from the chumash (women are still not allowed to bring a Torah scroll to the women's section) for her Bat Mitzvah. As this tiny young girl stood up on the chair and chanted, everyone had tears in their eyes. With her parents and grandparents right next to her, this girl took a step towards Jewish womanhood. While those noises of yelling and anger still rang in the background, I was totally focused on this momentous occasion I was privileged to be a part of. You can see the Bat Mitzvah (and me somewhere in the background... being a ginger in a Jewish crowd makes me pretty easy to spot) here! I hope that this girl grows up in a society where she is able to one day bring her own daughter to the Wall, where she will be allowed to read from a real Torah scroll without fear or hesitation.

As we exited the plaza, a man threw an egg towards the crowd. Instead of feeling scared, I was immediately uplifted to see several soldiers race up the staircase to catch the perpetrators. While things were certainly not perfect, it was affirming to see at least some of the police on our side and stopping abject hatred and rudeness in its tracks.

Even nearly a week later, I'm still processing what happened last Monday. Part of me is still saddened that prayer has placed Jew against Jew and made the kotel a hostile environment. I am also elated that I was finally able to pray at/near the kotel with my tallit that is painted with the skyline of Jerusalem. I also can understand that the haredim feel threatened by WOW's presence and worry their way of life and prayer is rapidly disappearing, but that does not forgive those in the plaza's vicious efforts to drown out prayer and be hostile. A pregnant rabbi from New York was hit with an egg - something is terribly wrong with that picture. I don't know what the solution will be, but I know that I will be there every Rosh Chodesh I am here (bearing unforseen situations) and hope that we continue to inch closer to the kotel we envision as a safe, pluralistic and holy place for all.

I'm here!

(Preface- this was written a few days ago, but I forgot to post it. Entries related to recent events such as Women of the Wall coming soon!)

So I spent a while trying to think of a creative title for my blog, so long in fact that I was able to come up with absolutely nothing. A nice classmate of mine told me that Julie in Jerusalem is cute and alliterative so I decided that instead of being blog-less as more stories/experiences occur, I should just go with it.  I'm hopeful that I will actually keep up with this blog and will remind myself that this will be a great way to remember this year since I definitely don't have the best memory!

I've been here about 5 days so far, though it certainly feels like more. Mostly because each day has been pretty full and I'm still adjusting to the time and the new-ness of everything. My first full day was July 4th, which we celebrated with a "American" barbecue. While there were no fireworks and certainly no baseball (though the A's won in dramatic fashion which made me happy), we celebrated atop a gorgeous overlook in Abu Tor. It was great to meet many of my classmates and we did manage to enjoy a round of This Land is Your Land, which I learned has many alternative lyrics from various countries.

Other highlights included a very thought-provoking trip to Bethlehem (more on that in another post) and Shabbat services and dinner with classmates. Several fellow students led services, and it was really wonderful to be in an environment where everyone is praying, committed and in the moment. The leaders stopped at various moments during the service to ask about our various customs and, unsurprisingly, there was both a lot of diversity and commonalities in the room. Mostly I just really appreciated the beautiful harmonies that naturally occurred during various prayers when our backgrounds taught us slightly different tunes. We finished services by singing l'chi lach, and I literally had chills in that pretty cheesy "wow I'm actually here and doing this" sense. That Debbie Friedman tune has always held a special place in my heart and hearing it sung by my (many) musically talented classmates was awesome. There are seven cantors, but at least 10 other songleader/insanely talented singer types in addition.

I also went on a campus tour today, where, among other things, we walked to this overlook at the back of campus. The land was leased to the reform movement in the early 1960s, and it was not so ideal because  the Jordanians used to have military guards atop the walls in the background. After Jerusalem was unified, the space in the middle became less volatile and now leads to an amazing view!

Tomorrow begins orientation and classes start next week. I'm excited to have a more solidified schedule and get a chance to meet and chat with everyone.