The sight of the scuffle between Jews in Dizengoff Square, on Yom Kippur – one of the few days of the year that still represents some sort of national consensus among us – was a painful reminder of the growing schism in our society. It should not have taken place, and I believe it could easily have been avoided, if trying to heal the schism, rather than raising the flames, were truly a national goal for all of us.
The event was the result of the fact that an Orthodox religious association, which publicly claims to seek to bring together secular and religious Jews, deliberately tried to trick the Tel Aviv municipality and blatantly disobeyed a High Court of Justice ruling.
The matter at hand was the holding of an outdoor public prayer on Yom Kippur in Dizengoff Square, in which the organizers placed a physical barrier to separate men and women from each other, even though the Tel Aviv municipality had strictly forbidden the placing of such barriers in open spaces – as opposed to a voluntary separation without the presence of physical barriers, for those among the participants in the prayer who believe in separation.
The religious association called Rosh Yehudi (Jewish Mind), which organized the event, tried to outsmart the authorities and set up a semi-physical barrier by connecting stretched flags along the outline of the intended barrier, which in turn caused a group of radical secular demonstrators to decide to break up the event – a move not supported by many of the secular Jews present at the prayer gathering.
However, Rosh Yehudi is not an innocent outreach group, which one can gather from an interview given by its head – Israel Za’ira – to TV channel 13 last week, in which he admitted that the long-term goal of Rosh Yehudi is “religionization,” and to “correct” or “repair” the secular population, by soft means and sweet talk. This being the case, one cannot take the “flag barrier” to have been an innocent act, but something more like a deliberate provocation.
Demonstrators fell for the bait
The main problem was that the radical demonstrators fell for the bait.
Once they became aware of the illegal barrier, they should simply have warned all the secular public present of the fact and tried to convince them to depart peacefully.
ANOTHER PROBLEM was that the Tel Aviv municipality, which had forbidden the setting up of a barrier, had decided not to instruct its inspectors to ensure that their instructions were kept – while there is evidence that the police sided with the organizers of the prayer on the issue of the barrier.
Now the lesson appears to have been learned, and Rosh Yehudi has been forbidden by the municipality from holding any prayers at public locations in Tel Aviv during Sukkot. Better late than never, but the damage has already been done.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu poured fuel on the fire when he commented the next day that “left-wing demonstrators rioted against Jews during their prayers” – as if the demonstrators are not Jews, and the violent scuffle was an antisemitic act, rather than the result of a deliberate provocation by the religious organizers of the event.
I strongly believe that the main meaning of Israel being a Jewish state, in addition to its being a democratic state, is that it is the state of all Jews, whether religious or secular, straight or gay, and irrespective of their political ideology and agenda.
A Jew praying behind a barrier designed to separate men and women, is no more a Jew than one who objects to such a barrier for ideological reasons.
The first question that must be asked is why in previous years such public prayers transpired smoothly and drew thousands of secular and religious Jews who prayed together peacefully. I believe that the answer is that since January, certain elements within the government have openly encouraged the activities of various groups that encourage Judaization of mixed cities; and “religionizing” in centers of secular life in Israel – be they associations like Rosh Yehudi, or what are known as Torah nuclei.
It cannot be denied that the atmosphere this time last year was different than it is today. Then, the “government of change” was still in power, which could be part of the answer.
Why is the secular population so opposed to physical barriers?
THE SECOND question is why the liberal, secular population is so adamantly opposed to physical barriers between men and women in the public domain.
First of all, it should be noted that we do not object to separation in Orthodox synagogues, nor to separating men and women at the Western Wall, which is not a synagogue but an open space, holy to the Jewish people as a whole, as long as non-Orthodox worshipers are allotted a section along the wall where they can pray without separation.
At the same time, it should be remembered that Israel’s liberal democracy is based, inter alia, on gender equality, and forced gender-based separation in the public domain is forbidden, with only a few, agreed exceptions.
If anyone wishes to pray in places that ascribe to gender separation, there are thousands of Orthodox synagogues all around the country, where he or she can pray. However, if such persons choose to organize prayers in the secular public domain, allegedly for the sake of bringing religious and secular Jews together, then they should respect the wishes of the local population and the instructions of the municipalities of the locations where the prayers are designed to take place.
On a personal note, although I define myself as a secular agnostic, Orthodox Judaism is part of my historic heritage. Within this context I have on occasion attended religious services in synagogues of various denominations. Whenever I have attended an Orthodox synagogue, I have never felt uncomfortable with gender separation and being sent up to the women’s section, because I accept the fact that this is the practice in Orthodox synagogues, and I do not attend for religious purposes, but merely to experience and observe, while respecting the accepted practices prevalent in them – including gender separation.
And just one last comment. I occasionally visit a friend who lives in a mixed religious-secular Jerusalem neighborhood during religious holidays and around them. Sometimes, depending on the hour, I come across a relatively large group of religious men and women praying outside, in the garden in front of the block of apartment buildings where my friend lives.
The men and women pray separately, but without any sort of visible barrier between them. It is a peaceful and pleasant sight, and I do my best to stick to the sidelines in order not to disturb, even though I cannot completely avoid passing through.
After the events of Yom Kippur in Dizengoff Square, I couldn’t help wondering why, if a group of Orthodox Jews can pray together outdoors without a physical barrier separating men and women, a group of religious and secular Jews, allegedly seeking togetherness, cannot do the same in Tel Aviv. After all, “when there is a will, there’s a way.”
The writer worked in the Knesset for many years as a researcher and has published extensively, both journalistic and academic articles on current affairs and Israeli politics. Her most recent book: Israel’s Knesset Members – A Comparative Study of an Undefined Job, was published by Routledge last year.