TORONTO — A prayer service for Rosh Chodesh Adar brought together participants from all streams of the community in support of women who were arrested recently at the Kotel in Jerusalem for wearing tallits.
Rachael Turkienicz
The celebration of religious pluralism, held Feb. 14 at the Lipa Green Centre for Jewish Community Services, included silent prayers, tchinas (prayers written for and by women), a performance by Kol Neshama and a talk by educator and CJN columnist Rachael Turkienicz.
In introducing the one-hour program, Rabbi Michal Shekel, said that participants hold different siddurs and practise Judaism differently, “but our love for Judaism is [the same.] We are different, yet we stand together as Jews.
“We are here in support of all Jews to express their Judaism. We are here despite our differences, and we all embrace religious pluralism. We are here because our love of tfillah is as essential to the Jewish soul as breathing is to the human body.”
Turkienicz said that what was incredible to her about the gathering was that when she looked around, she saw “a tapestry of tallits and no tallits, and both men and women.”
What triggered the gathering, she said, was an event at the Kotel in January, when members of Women of the Wall were arrested for wearing tallits. “We have the challenge of living in a world of different Jewish expression.”
She said that when God spoke on Mount Sinai, His words were split into 70 tongues. “This was all the languages of existence, the totality of human understanding. Although God spoke one verse, it contained a variety of human understanding.
“A message came from God, and was received by each person differently. It was not supposed to mean the same thing [to everyone.]”
When a community is bonded, Turkienicz said, “then we [have] stability. When we look around the room and notice something that makes us uncomfortable, we have to remember that it is not about our comfort levels, but about our vision and our Torah.”
