An Affiliate of the Jewish Federation
of Greater Charlotte
^
' X
Vol. 35, No. 11
Kislev-Tevet 5774
December 2013
2014 Main
Event
"Bringing Shaiom
into Your Home”
with Rabbi Shmuiey
Boteach
It’s not too late to purchase the
hottest tickets in town - those for
the Jewish Federation’s 2014
Main Event featuring Rabbi
Shmuiey Boteach!
The event will take place on
Thursday, December 12 at 7:30
PM at Temple Israel. The Main
Event is the Jewish Federation’s
single largest campaign event of
the season.
“A big thank you to our Friends
of Shmuiey event patrons. Our
patron list is growing everyday.
We’re thrilled that so many com
Main Event co-chairs Alison Lerner and Amy Augus
tine.
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My Morning at the
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munity members have stepped up
to support the event at the $180
level,” said co-chairs Amy Augus
tine and Alison Lemer. “Friends
of Shmuiey” receive two Main
Event tickets, one
signed book and
recognition in the
event program, the
January Charlotte
Jewish News and
on Federation’s
website.
General admis
sion tickets are $36
per person and can
be purchased online
at www.jewishchar-
lotte.org; by calling
704-944-6757 or by
mailing in your
check to Jewish Federation, 5007
Providence Road, Suite 101,
Charlotte, NC 28226.
This year’s Main Event speaker
Rabbi Shmuiey Boteach hosted
the national TV Show “Shalom in
the Home,” and is described as
“America’s Rabbi.” Called “the
most famous Rabbi in America”
by The Washington Post and
Newsweek, he is one of the
world’s leading experts on rela
tionships, values, and spirituality.
His 29 books have been best-sell
ers all over the world and have
been translated into 20 languages.
Rabbi Shmuiey has lectured and
appeared in print, radio, and TV
all over the globe. Please visit
www.shmuley.com/home to learn
more about Rabbi Shmuiey
Boteach.
At the event, community mem
bers will have an opportunity to
pledge to the 2014 Annual Cam
paign. Generous support from
members of our caring and com
passionate community will bene-
(Continued on page 3)
By Andrea Cooper/Tablet
Magazine
“Did they pay you to come
here?” one wide-eyed Orthodox
girl asked us, curious about the
women in tallitot all around her.
No one had to pay the hundreds
of women—including me—who
sang and celebrated this morning
at the Kotel for Women of the
Wall’s 25th anniversary prayer
service. Our group stretched
through much of the women’s sec
tion and spilled onto the plaza on
a clear morning that was filled
with unexpected light, both from
what happened and what didn’t.
I’ll confess I didn’t sleep a sec
ond last night, imagining the pos
sibilities. A senior Haredi rabbi
had asked ultra-Orthodox girls to
come early and fill up the
women’s section. Would they
scream at us, curse, or spit, as has
happened at previous Women of
the Wall services? Would men lob
eggs in our direction from the
other side of the mechitzal Good
for the hair or not, I wasn’t thrilled
about the thought of viscous sub
stances landing on me at a holy
place.
None of that materialized. A
small row of men shouted to make
their displeasure known when we
first arrived. (In a lovely bit of
irony, we were singing “Hineh Ma
Tov,” a song about unity.) It was
also hard to miss the morning
prayers blasted from the men’s
side over a loudspeaker aimed in
our direction. But the women,
who had no microphones, just
sang their own prayers louder. Ac
cording to Haaretz, police forced
the men to shut off the loudspeak
ers; by the time the Women of the
Wall service officially began, it
was quiet. I also heard that police
set up a barricade next to the me-
chitza on the men’s side to put
some distance between protestors
and those being protested. If so, it
must have worked. Even the occa
sional whistle meant to disrupt us
seemed half-hearted.
That left room for the joys.
Among them:
* Every woman around me had
a story about what brought her to
this service. One woman wore a
tallit belonging to a friend who
had hoped to be here but passed
away just weeks ago. Another said
kaddish during the service for her
feminist mother, on the anniver
sary of her death. Another had
names inscribed on her tailit of
those who supported this journey
and were here in spirit.
* A few very religious girls and
women not part of our group
prayed with us or asked questions.
To be sure, most of the ultra-Or-
thodox worshipped next to the
Kotel, and female soldiers stood
between us and them to protect
everyone. But a few newcomers
joined us, including the teen who
said she was sorry about what
Women of the Wall had endured
here in the past. As for the girl
who asked my rabbi if we had re
ceived payment to hold a protest
service. I’m idealistic enough to
believe that questions and conver
sation can lead to change for the
better.
* Four women raised Torah
mantles because we couldn’t
bring a Torah into the women’s
section. One was Rabbi Laura
Geller, ordained more than 30
years ago as the third female rabbi
in the Reform movement and ac
tive with Women of the Wall since
its inception. Once, she had her
tallit confiscated at the Wall. This
morning, she lifted a velvet Torah
mantle like a banner of hope.
*Young girls in the group were
blessed with a tallit held high
above them. Someday, they might
have their bat mitzvahs at the
Wall.
After the service, many of the
Americans gathered at Robinson’s
Arch, the site proposed for a new
egalitarian space at the Western
Wall. We prayed for peace and ac
knowledged how far we had come
for this spiritual moment. I
thought back to a new prayer I’d
just learned at the Kotel:
“May no woman or girl be
silenced ever again among
Your people Israel or in all the
world.” ^
This article is reprinted from
Tablet Magazine, at tablet-
mag, com, the online magazine of
Jewish news, ideas, and culture.
Andrea Cooper is a member of
Temple Beth El, and a writer
based in North Carolina. She has
written for Time, Salon.com, Utne
Reader, Pacific Standard, Na
tional Geographic Traveler, and
Vogue, and has contributed to
NPR’s All Things Considered.