I promise I have been thinking a lot about blog posts and just haven’t had the time to write any! I am now done with the Hartman Institute program and yesterday I spent the day on a tour with the New Israel Fund. I have lots of things swimming around in my head and my hope is that they will find their way into a blog post at some point soon. Just know that I am doing great. I am having lots of fun, learned a lot, and am even managing to relax a little bit. Shocking, I know. Stay tuned!
Posting from Jerusalem seems to be harder than I thought. On Sunday morning, Rosh Chodesh Tammuz, I joined Women of the Wall for morning services. In addition to being a prayer service, it was also an action in support of civil rights. This was my first time at Women of the Wall so I want to describe the whole experience as best I can.
I arrived very early, remember morning is probably the coolest time of the day, via taxi. I was wearing a baseball hat to stay out of the sun (and maybe to cover up a bad hair day). There was the usual walk through a metal detector and opening my bag for the police which was no problem.
Since my last time at the Western Wall, the women’s section has gotten smaller. Much smaller. It is clear that the attempt to make this space into a synagogue is much more deliberate. Being there early, it wasn’t too crowded. It was evident when the police and army officers arrived in order to protect this group. Several stood behind the divider on chairs.
One of the guards behind the women's section.
Guards were on the men’s side also on chairs to keep people away and prevent flying objects. Two guards assembled on the women’s side. One, a woman, video taped the entire experience. At 7:30am the women gathered, seemingly led by Nofrat Frankel (the woman arrested for wearing a tallit) at the very back of the women’s section in a large sort of clump. Everyone stood save one older woman who grabbed a plastic chair. You can see from the video that I posted below that women are not allowed to wear their tallit (prayer shawl) the traditional way, they must be worn like a scarf wrapped around the neck. It is a completely disgusting that there are now laws legislating the “way” people can pray. Don’t worry, there will be more gross things that I have to report.
In terms of prayer-book, I brought my travelers’ version of Mishkan Tefilah. It was almost entirely inadequate because this service followed a traditional order of prayer more in line with what many who probably read this blog would call orthodox. I sort of knew this would be the case and I mostly didn’t care. I hate the Western Wall. It might be one of my least favorite places in the world. While I know that it is holy and extremely important for some people, the prayer experience wasn’t the principle reason for my visit.
This was what the group looked and sounded like.
During the service there were a few disturbances. First, a man on the ‘other’ side started screaming that what we were doing was forbidden according to Jewish law. He was ranting and raving and it was basically after nothing had happened beyond the recitation of several verses aloud from the prayer service. The police seemed to know this was going to happen and they quickly ushered him away from the group, though he continued to raise his voice in an awkward song of protest as though he was trying to block out our voices by making more noise then we were. At another point a woman approached the police and said something to the effect of, “what are these women doing? This is a place for all people and they are disturbing everything.” She ranted for a few moments but that was basically the end of it.
At the end of Hallel, I linked arms with my friend SAR. Somehow we ended up slowly leading the group of women singing “Ozi v’zimrat Yah, v’yhi li yeshua” from the Song of the Sea and Psalms. (Remember the Torah scroll wasn’t allowed into the women’s section though there were several on the men’s side because of what happened last summer. We reached the exit of the Kotel plaza.
Anat Hoffman of the IRAC facilitates the woman holding the Torah scroll joining the group of women.
Several members of the group were standing just outside the security check point with the Torah scroll. When the group joined up with the Torah, I had a greater sense of the magnitude of this event. This wasn’t just a prayer service. For some of the passersby it was perhaps the first time seeing a woman carry a Torah scroll. All in all this was a tremendous act of defiance against the orthodox stronghold over who makes the rules for Judaism.
The Torah reading at Robinson’s arch was really lovely. There was the musaf service also which isn’t my cup of tea (you can ask me about that offline) so I was chatting with a few of my colleagues a few steps away from the group. There was a brief Kiddush. Members of the Women’s Rabbinic Network took a photo.
On the left is Anat Hoffman, executive director of the Israel Religious Action Center, is holding up her tallit made exclusively for Women of the Wall. You too can purchase one of these tallitot which is a fantastic way of reminding yourself the privilege of wearing a tallit isn’t something to be taken for granted. Women of the Wall and IRAC are always looking for more support for their important work whether monetary or joining them in action whenever the opportunity arrises.
One of the highlights of the experience was getting to take a picture with Anat who is unquestionably one of my heroes.
I arrived at rabbi camp (also known as the Rabbinic Torah Seminar at the Shalom Hartman Institute) in Jerusalem. So far, my bunkmates, also known as the people sitting in the beit Midrash with me, are nice. The counselors, also known as the faculty, are pretty awesome. They seem to know a lot about their specialty areas and I am already learning a lot. The food so far was good (no really, there was lunch). The day is very packed with activities. My elective is with Avivah Zornberg on women in the Bible. That starts tomorrow since day 1 was filled with introductions. I am really glad there was no swim test so far. I remembered my water bottle and am drinking to say hydrated. I will try to write again soon.
I’m in Los Angeles! MG and I arrived after three days of driving. That’s right, we are kind of crazy! We drove 1,971 miles with an average of about 40 mpg (thank you very much low-sulfur emission diesel!).
Some highlights were, listening to The Historian on CD and repeatedly making references to one another about the book and the potential for vampires to be all around.
The drive between Denver and Las Vegas was really beautiful. It made up for the lack of interest that exists in the state of Nebraska, at least on the road.
Change is in the air and I couldn’t be more excited. Exciting travels are beginning.
I am about to embark on a journey with MYSTERY GUEST. I am calling this person MYSTERY GUEST because MYSTERY GUEST is the child of someone who was always obsessively concerned with security and to write that MYSTERY GUEST was not going to be home would be a grievous breach of security. MYSTERY GUEST and I will start the journey early in the morning and will drive consistently for several days most likely.
I am not sure how much of this journey will be appropriate to blog about or if there will be consistent internet access (and if I want there to be, I might not).
I will be tweeting this experience. You can follow MG and I here.
Today I am donating my red couch to a most worthy organization. I picked this couch to go in my new T-dot home. I picked the fabric and the color and the throw pillows. It is the most expensive piece of furniture I’ve ever purchased to date. I started this blog on this couch. I’ve written so many blog posts, tweets, emails, and sermons on this couch. I’ve contemplated the deeper meaning of life while sitting on this couch. I’ve laughed, I’ve cried and I’ve taken some of the world’s greatest Shabbat naps.
I can imagine MY MOM sitting on this couch when she would come to visit in T-dot. Fortunately, I know whether or not I am the owner of this couch, I will always be able to imagine her sitting, knitting, laughing, resting her eyes, and just being MY MOM.
It is official, I am going back to school next year. I couldn’t be more excited to be doing important learning that will make me a better rabbi in both the short and long-term!
Even though it has only been a couple of years since I was in the classroom the technology is radically different. As you probably know, I do most of my reading on an e-reader. My first choice is my Kindle, second choice is the iPad. This is a huge change from my previous student days. I can see there are tremendous benefits to the e-reader. I can search within a text, I can write notes and highlight and then have access to those when constructing papers and other notes. Not only that, I could have fewer books to move! Believe me, if another person comes into my office and stares at my bookshelves agape and says, “are these all really yours?” we could have an issue on our hands. I love my books. I can’t imagine not having them. The idea of giving any away is extremely difficult (and yes I am doing that, too. Bye bye to all fo those books from Brandeis that I’ve been moving around!).
Perhaps the most significant idea that I’m toying with is using a combination of iPad/laptop for note taking in classes coupled with this LiveScribe pen and paper. When I was a HUC student, I did prefer to take notes on my computer because I type much faster then I can write and I find, even now, those notes are highly searchable and therefore usable in my rabbinate. However, several of the professors were vehemently anti-laptop because students also do other things on them. I admit sometimes I did check my email and search the web, however that was when I was bored and my mind was wandering. How different is that then doodling on a notebook? Well this LiveScribe pen and paper might be just the solution. I would still be writing notes. At the same time I could also be recording the lecture and then send the notes to my various web-based storage options (more on this in another post). The challenge with this pen, of course, is that I have to use the LiveScribe paper. I don’t think this is a huge deal breaker for me though, especially because I can see lots of practical applications for this pen and paper in the rabbinate. I can imagine using it when meeting with people to prepare a wedding address or writing a eulogy (I would never record anyone without their permission nor would I publish these recordings in any form. I would use them solely for my own note taking and preparation).
If anyone has experience with a pen like this or a recording device like this, please let me know.
I can’t wait to get back into the classroom and learn so many new things.
You might not be aware, but MY DAD is awesome. In addition to being hilarious (but please don’t encourage him), creative, smart, kind, and sensitive, he is also a professional volunteer. Since his retirement, he elected to spend his time volunteering for several Minnesota organizations. He tutors new immigrants in English and prepares people for to take their GED. He also works as a mentor at the Youth Center of Neighborhood House, an amazing organization in downtown St. Paul, MN. (Clearly you should make a charitable donation there in honor of MY DAD).
This year, Neighborhood House selected him as their Volunteer of the Year. When they called him to let him know it brought tears to his eyes. When he told me, it brought tears to my eyes, too. The Neighborhood House community is a second family for MY DAD. The outpouring of love and support that THE DIVA and I saw from them after MY MOM’s death showed us that he is just as important to them as they are to him.
THE DIVA, MY DAD, and I know MY MOM is smiling about all of this.
You know that I am passionate about social justice issues, as you can see, I come by it honestly. MY DAD is making a difference every single day. And if you ask him, I am confident he would tell you that he gets more out of it then the people that he tutors.
MY MOM had amazing hands. Though she was several inches shorter than I am, she had bigger hands. Often when we would be walking, pretty much anywhere, we would hold hands. Sometimes, just pinkies.
From the time I was very young MY MOM always had her nails done. She had acrylic nails because, like me, her nails were very thin. Knowing that she had pale skin MY MOM never the woman to avoid drama loved red nail polish (sometimes she would opt for a french manicure but I digress). A darker red for winter and a brighter, more orange-red for summer time. She was always willing to try a new color, though I definitely think she could have bought stock in OPI Mrs. O’Leary’s BBQ (a frequent wintertime option).
When people talked about MY MOM after her death so many mentioned her red nails, her beautiful hands. I think about them often. The silky skin, the acrylic nails, the beautiful jewelry, and, of course, the person to whom they belong.
Not many know that in her retirement MY MOM was volunteering at Children’s Hospital of St. Paul. As a regular volunteer on of the requirements to protect the patients was not to have any artificial nails. Much to my surprise, off came the acrylic nails. MY MOM was committed to helping other people, even if it meant getting rid of her trademark nails. (Don’t worry, red polish was still an option)! That was the kind of person that she was and the mother I miss so fiercely.
Over the weekend I got a mani/pedi. I haven’t had one in a long time. On a whim, I picked a red nail polish, a bright orange-red that MY MOM might have chosen for spring. Every time I look at my hands I think of her and I miss her so much.
I’m in Los Angeles! 
Change is in the air and I couldn’t be more excited. Exciting travels are beginning.
It is official, I am going back to school next year. I couldn’t be more excited to be doing important learning that will make me a better rabbi in both the short and long-term!
Rabbi Eleanor Steinman 