The Women of the Wall, Twenty Years On
Feminists challenge the Israeli ultra-Orthodox

by Phyllis Chesler
Pajamas Media
December 5, 2008

http://www.phyllis-chesler.com/384/the-women-of-the-wall-twenty-years-on-feminists

Excerpt:

On the one hand, an earnest argument is being made against religion on the grounds that it leads to increasingly violent religious wars and is both misogynist, homophobic, delusionary, and an economic "racket." On the other hand, womens' exclusion from and subordination within each mainstream religion has simultaneously led to a feminist struggle to have women included, not just as followers, but also as religious leaders.

Both struggles are important. The struggle to keep church/synagogue/mosque/temple separate from the state is an important one. But so too is the struggle to render religious theology and practice more user-friendly to women and to diverse religious communities.

I have been engaged in these two struggles on both sides of the aisle.
In this piece, published earlier this week at Jewcy.com I describe the twenty year anniversary of a Jerusalem-based struggle on behalf of Jewish womens' religious rights. I have been in its service from the very beginning.

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