{"id":17607,"date":"2016-03-04T00:08:50","date_gmt":"2016-03-04T08:08:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=17607"},"modified":"2016-03-03T20:18:51","modified_gmt":"2016-03-04T04:18:51","slug":"synagogue-more-inclusive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2016\/03\/04\/synagogue-more-inclusive\/","title":{"rendered":"Synagogue more inclusive"},"content":{"rendered":"

At Zemer Hazayit, a Modern Orthodox congregation in Efrat, when the Torah reading is finished, the scroll is passed from the men\u2019s side to a woman who takes it through the women\u2019s side. (photo from David Bollag)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Ten years ago, a group of people in a Modern Orthodox congregation in Efrat, a Gush Etzion settlement, decided they wanted women to be more involved in their synagogue services. The majority of the congregation was reluctant, however, so they set out to form a community of their own.<\/p>\n

They consulted with Efrat\u2019s chief rabbi, Shlomo Riskin, about the idea and, he said, \u201cListen, I don\u2019t think it should be the only reason why you would start a new community \u2013 the position of women. Why don\u2019t you also make it special in terms of prayer and make it kind of a song?\u201d So, they named the community Zemer Hazayit<\/em> (Song of the Olive). \u201cThere was strong contact with the head rabbi from the very beginning,\u201d said Rabbi David Bollag, spiritual leader of Zemer Hazayit.<\/p>\n

Bollag, originally from Switzerland, made aliyah 25 years ago. He has been with the community for the past eight years. He still flies home eight times a year to teach at two Swiss universities, the University of Zurich and the University of Lucerne.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy field is Jewish philosophy, but I also teach some Jewish history, Bible, whatever they need in the institutes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur congregation is Modern Orthodox. In Modern Orthodoxy, in almost every aspect of life, women are fully integrated and emancipated, and have almost the same role as men \u2013 socially, professionally, in politics and at home. They have the same rights, almost the same education possibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ever since Zemer Hazayit opened its doors, the community has been growing. It has some 200 community members today. While this community is new to Efrat, there are many like it elsewhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe process that is taking place is a slow development,\u201d said Bollag. \u201cMore and more, laymen and rabbis realize the difference between normal life and religious life isn\u2019t sitting well with most people.\u201d While women are intellectually engaged at schools, workplaces and in politics, he said, \u201cwhen it comes to religious life, they\u2019re treated like second-class citizens, and they are just going to leave religion or consider it something primitive. For that reason, changes have to take place.\u201d<\/p>\n

While people see the need, they also understand that change takes time to be accepted. \u201cThat\u2019s why the process is very slow, sometimes very painful \u2013 there\u2019s a lot of opposition,\u201d said Bollag.<\/p>\n

The tensions and discussions are not only between their community and the rest of Efrat\u2019s Modern Orthodox communities, but within Zemer Hazayit, as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe definitely have people who are more progressive, who are interested in more changes, and others who are much less,\u201d said Bollag. \u201cNot only do we have to find the right balance between introducing new things and making sure we remain within the limits of Modern Orthodoxy, we also have to make sure we find the right balance that\u2019s OK for everybody in our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Bollag was asked to be the community\u2019s rabbi, one of the first things he wanted was to have an official meeting with members of other neighborhood synagogues. \u201cI wanted to make sure to explain to them what we\u2019re interested in doing, to make sure they would fully accept us,\u201d he said. \u201cThey don\u2019t have to agree with us, but I would like them to be accepting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"photo
Women at Zemer Hazayit return the Torah scroll to the ark. (photo from David Bollag)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Zemer Hazayit first gets Riskin\u2019s blessing before implementing any proposed changes. So far, these changes have included splitting the prayer room in the middle from front to back, giving women equal access to the ark and, when the Torah reading is finished, the scroll is passed from the men\u2019s side to a woman who takes it through the women\u2019s side and then places it back in the ark.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the main issues being discussed at the moment is whether or how women can read from the Torah,\u201d said Bollag. \u201cSo, we have, about once in two months, a reading of the Torah by women, but just among women.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the moment, the opinion is that they cannot have women reading for men. \u201cSo, we separate for that reading \u2013 the women are in one place and the men in another,\u201d said Bollag. \u201cWomen read for women. We usually also do that when there\u2019s a bat mitzvah, as most of the girls are interested in reading Torah.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlso, women say Kaddish \u2013 that goes without saying in our community \u2013 even if there is just a woman and no man.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Bollag, the ordination of women in Reform synagogues has influenced Modern Orthodox congregations, as well, noting that these communities now will hire a woman as part of the discussion, including as a rabbi\/spiritual leader.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they approached me about being the rabbi of this community, we made it very clear that it isn\u2019t just me, but also my wife who will be very involved in leading our community,\u201d said Bollag. \u201cWe also put a lot of emphasis on integrating children into the services as much as we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zemer Hazayit is currently raising funds to build a synagogue, as they have outgrown the room they have been using in a local school. For more information, visit buildzemerhazayit.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rebeca Kuropatwa<\/strong> is a Winnipeg freelance writer.<\/em><\/p>\n

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At Zemer Hazayit, a Modern Orthodox congregation in Efrat, when the Torah reading is finished, the scroll is passed from the men\u2019s side to a woman who takes it through the women\u2019s side. (photo from David Bollag) Ten years ago, a group of people in a Modern Orthodox congregation in Efrat, a Gush Etzion settlement, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17566,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4329],"tags":[5463,5461,3672,5460,5462,3021,5464],"class_list":["post-17607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-israel","tag-bollag","tag-efrat","tag-equality","tag-modern-orthodox","tag-riskin","tag-women","tag-zemer-hazayit"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17607\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}