Meeting with Charedim

On Thursday night, we went to Jerusalem to spend the night with Charedim, really really orthodox Jews. The meeting was organized by an organization that tries to get religious and secular Jews to talk and try to understand each other. I think this is really important because I think that both groups have stereotypes about each other, and although they may never agree, it is important for them to at least understand in order for the Jews in Israel to stay united.

Anyway, I was put in a group with my friend from the mechina (Racheli) and two Charedi women, one of whom joined later. We had discussions about two topics in particular: the army and women. The Charedi community has a reputation for not going to the army because they think it is more important to learn Torah all day. The woman explained to me that the army does things that she does not agree with that makes it unreasonable to ask her and her family to serve. For example, in ceremonies for the army, everyone sings "Hatikva" (the Israeli national anthem) and stands up. In her opinion, this is treating the "Hatikva" as if it is a holy prayer, which it isn't for her. She said a lot of other things, including that there is no benefit for men to exercise all day, and that the Charedi community is doing just as good of a job protecting Israel as the army because they are praying to God for it. She used Hanukkah as an example; in the story of Hanukkah, the Jews defeated the Greeks even though the Jews' army was much weaker and smaller. She says the Jews must have prayed and that's why they won. I didn't agree with her on this issue, but it was interesting to hear from her what she had to say. I could tell that she felt bad saying all this stuff; she was always stopping to make sure that we were not about to blow up.

I felt a little more connected to the next issue we talked about: women. She explained to me how men and women are two completely different beings and as such have completely different roles in life. A man's role in life is to study Torah, and a woman's role in life is modesty. She should protect over herself as something so valuable that nobody can see it other than her husband. I kind of understand this, but it still bothers me how women are forced into a little corner of the synagogue where they can't even see or hear anything, and how if there is a party with singing and dancing, they are supposed to just sit and do nothing, since men are not allowed to hear their voice or see them dance. The woman I talked to was not bothered by this at all-she said she was protecting over herself.

Then, I brought up the issue of women in different movements of Judaism who wear kippot, t'filin, and talit. She said that this was forbidden by the Torah by the law that says that men cannot wear women's clothes and vice versa. I told her that this was the way that many women find a real connection with God, and she said that women need to find their connection in other ways, such as lighting candles on Shabbat. I talked about how some movements try to modify Judaism a little bit to make it more relate-able to people and times now, to which she answered that the Torah was written to fit all times and can never be changed based on what people think. She said that people cannot decide what God wants of them because God has written it all clearly in the Torah. I had a little issue with this, because many Jewish laws are not taken exactly from the Torah, but from the "mishna" and "gmara," which are two interpretations of the Torah written by rabbis a long time ago. Anyway, this conversation went on for a long time...I can see where she's coming from with the whole modesty thing, but I still disagree with her on a general level. It was very interesting to hear.

By the way, I am writing this in on my laptop on my bed in Chicago! I came home yesterday for Hanukkah!