I Know You Were Marching Right Beside Me

Dear The Mums,

Although I don’t know what kind of news coverage there is where you are, I hope you know that Donald Trump is this country’s new president – and that from the perspective of many Americans, he’s wreaking havoc on our democracy.

As the National Organization for Women has reported, immediately following his inauguration, he:

• Removed from the White House website research and reports on rape, sexual assault, and domestic violence.
• Stripped the Department of Labor’s website of a report on lesbians, bi, gay and transgender people and LGBT workplace discrimination.
• Wiped clean from the White House website information on the threat of climate change and efforts to combat it.

The new president also is having a field day with executive orders, and within 72 hours of taking office, signed executive orders to:

• Dismantle the Affordable Care Act.
• Reinstate the Global Gag Rule on women.
• Proceed with the Keystone and Dakota pipelines.

Photo: Heavy.com

Even as we’re bracing for a Supreme Court nominee and other actions that will attempt to erode women’s rights and civil rights of countless Americans, an unprecedented grassroots movement is gaining momentum. Last Saturday – one day after the president’s inauguration – millions of women (and plenty of men, too) took to the streets in cities across this country and around the world, peacefully marching to demonstrate, again in the words of NOW, “that women’s rights and civil rights will not be rolled back.”

For the first time in many decades, we’re proving that we know what democracy looks like, we’re exercising our right to speak truth to power, and we’re standing up for what is right and just – for women and men, immigrants, people of color, gays, lesbians, transgender people, Muslims, and anyone who calls this country home.

I’m quite sure last week’s march was only the beginning of our work to protect the freedoms and opportunities this country offers us – and that we, unfortunately, can no longer take for granted. Secure in my own beliefs as a feminist, an American, a liberal Jew, and a human being, I am prepared to roll up my sleeves and get my hands dirty in an effort to make America think again. In the meantime, I was beyond proud to join with hundreds of thousands of other sign-toting New Yorkers in the march up Fifth Avenue – and I know you were there too, marching right beside me.

Miss you…xoxo.
~ Boo!

Hey, That's Not Our Scroll!

Yesterday at the minyan, we worshipers were thrown for a bit of a loop when Rabbi Strom (this one, not this one) took this scroll from the ark at the beginning of the Torah service:

We, of course, were expecting this one, which we see and use each week:

As it turns out, Temple Shaaray Tefila was lucky to be hosting--for about 48 hours--the "guest scroll," which is in the midst of making its rounds throughout North America on its way to Israel.  Its journey began in San Diego, thanks to the generosity of Congregation Beth Israel and Rabbi Michael Berk.  Once in Israel, ARZA will present it to Women of the Wall to use at its monthly Rosh Chodesh service.  Here's more about the scroll, including a travelogue, if you will, of its journey.

So, although technically speaking the scroll doesn't belong to our congregation, it does, in fact, belong to all of us whose story is detailed in the carefully lettered words on its parchment.  Indeed, our guest scroll belongs to all of us just as does the Western Wall--into whose dry cracks and crevices we have been tucking our memories, stories and prayers, rolled thin like chiffonade, for much (but not all) of the last few millennia.  

As they gather to welcome Rosh Chodesh Tammuz by singing, celebrating, and retelling a piece of our people's story, may the women (and men) of Women of the Wall find that this scroll--our scroll--brings new meaning, energy, and the spirit of each of us (and our individual and collective stories) to their celebrations and their work.

Daughter of Diana...Daughter of Zelophehad

Inspired by my mother, I've written a new post that appears at RJ.org. If you haven't already seen it, check it out here.

Perhaps there will be additional d'vrei Torah in the weeks and months ahead? Don't know, but stay tuned to find out.

Let's Raise Hell

A few weeks ago, I wrote on the Union's blog about the ongoing controversy involving women wearing tallitot and praying at the kotel in Jersusalem. Earlier this week, Anat Hoffman, excecutive director of the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC) was interrogated by police for her efforts to spearhead this sacred endeavor.

In this video, she talks with JTA's Ben Harris about the experience:



As she suggests, we can keep quiet or we can raise hell.

I'd vote for the latter. What about you?

Facebook Does It Again

You know how in the beginning of The Wizard of Oz the picture goes from black and white to color? I sort of had that experience today as my I-met-her-once Facebook friend Phyllis went from a teeny-tiny, two-dimensional photo to a three-dimensional, live-and-in-person person in New York City.

Here’s how the events unfolded:

You may recall that last month at Biennial, I met Phyllis, who I’d previously known only on Facebook. (You can read about that encounter here.) In our blink-of-an-eye conversation in Toronto, she said she’d be in New York in December and we quickly exchanged phone numbers in the hope that during that trip, there might be time for coffee.

This past Sunday night, Phyllis posted this on Facebook: Phyllis is getting very excited for her trip to NYC this week! I commented with this: Where will you be? What are you doing? Time for coffee?

Last night, she updated with this: Phyllis can't quite believe that she booked a SIX AM FLIGHT for tomorrow morning. It's off to bed I go...

And early this morning this: Phyllis is headed to NYC!!!!! See ya in the Eastern Time Zone:)

As I was settling into my desk at work, she had already flown in from Chicago, was poking around in the Village and posted this: Phyllis is feeling like the Country Mouse. Facebook friends quickly advised her to wear black, to keep her camera out of sight and to purchase a scarf—to be tied in just the right way—from a street vendor.

Hoping to offer some explanation for the clothing penchants of New Yorkers, I chimed in with this: New Yorkers wear black because our closets are so small that we don't have room for a hundred different color schemes. Everything has to match...and so we accessorize with scarves we buy on the street! (Today, in fact, I happen to be wearing one that I bought at 42nd and Third for $5) :)

A bit later, having visited Magnolia Bakery for a cupcake, the Country Mouse from Chicago posted this: Phyllis is putting her faith in Google maps.

Shortly thereafter, my cell phone rang and it was the Country Mouse herself, asking if I could meet her downtown for coffee. Unfortunately, I was at work in midtown and due in a meeting in a few minutes. She promised to call again in the afternoon—when she and Leslie, a mutual friend, would be a bit closer—and I promised to duck out for a while to meet them.

I then went back to writing tribute letters, researching my next article for Reform Judaism magazine and, as one colleague is fond of saying, “serving in HaShem’s Army.” Phyllis and I spoke again in the middle of the afternoon and the three of us arranged to meet for dinner on the west side, near the theater where she and Leslie had tickets for a show.

Just before I left the office for Times Square, I posted this: Jane is excited about dinner tonight -- a totally unexpected and pleasant surprise! And pleasant it was! Without missing a beat (and over yummy Italian fare), Leslie, Phyllis and I picked up our chat in person right where we’d left it off in cyberspace. In fact, had the two of them not had to race off to make a 7 p.m. curtain, I suspect we might still be schmoozing over cappuccino--smiling, chatting, laughing and marveling at the amazing power of Facebook to bring us all together.

Remember Becky Bell

Today marks the 36th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision that overturned or outlawed all laws in this country that restricted or prohibited abortion. Even with this ruling in place, in 1988, seventeen-year-old Becky Bell, afraid to tell her parents about her pregnancy and thus unable to obtain the parental consent required of minors for an abortion in her home state of Indiana, died from an infection following a back-alley procedure.

President Obama (yup, still like the sound of that!) in a written statement today said, "On the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we are reminded that this decision not only protects women's health and reproductive freedom, but stands for a broader principle: that government should not intrude on our most private family matters. I remain committed to protecting a woman's right to choose."

Bravo, Mr. President. But please remember that there's still a lot of work to do here. May Becky Bell’s memory remind you that your actions in this arena must be swift, confident and courageous. Becky and her family deserve nothing less.

You Go, Girls!

Check out this article in today’s New York Times about some young Afghan girls and their families.

If ever there was a time for God, Allah, or some other all-powerful presence in the universe to bless these girls as they struggle to overcome the narrow-mindedness of misogyny, it is now.

So God bless them and their families for their courage, persistence, vision and moxie…and just let them be kids.

Amen.