The recent High Court decision to expand and regularize the egalitarian prayer section at the Western Wall (Ezrat Yisrael), has led to a predictably vocal, hysterical reaction on the part of the Haredi and Hardali leadership. Led by MK Avi Maoz, they are fielding a bill that will grant total control over the Kotel to the Chief Rabbinate, which will work on the assumption that the entire Kotel area is an Orthodox synagogue.

As is the case with most things done under the influence of adrenaline and blind hysteria, enacting this bill will be an enormous mistake, for any number of reasons.

The egalitarian section of the Kotel, which is nowhere near the better-known Kotel Plaza, has been in existence for many years now and has not bothered anyone. It is located above the Davidson Archaeological Park, which was never, ever used as an Orthodox synagogue. Hence, as noted by the late Nahum Eliezer Rabinovitch זצ”ל, one of the greatest Religious Zionist Talmudic and Halakhic authorities on the last generation, this area has no sanctity according to Jewish Law and there is no halakhic impediment to locating an egalitarian area there. (This contrasts with the front section of the extant place which, since 1967, has acquired the status of an Orthodox synagogue.)

The monthly battles between Haredim and the ‘Women of the Wall’ occur because the latter, demand the right to hold services in the front section of the Kotel plaza. At a time when Diaspora Jews are threatened by an ever increasing wave of Jew Hatred; when Israeli desperately needs its ties to our brethren to be strengthened as we fight for our national survival; and irrespective of which interested elements who initiated the appeal to the High Court, it shows incredible ineptitude, cruelty, and obtuseness to deliver a gut punch to them and effectively say: We don’t want you.

Handing over the Kotel area to the Chief Rabbinate is potentially divisive and destructive. Technically speaking, an Orthodox synagogue may not be used for secular events. Hence, it is more than possible for the Chief Rabbinate, under the sway of Haredi authorities, to ban all uses of the area that aren’t ‘acceptable’ (and there are precedents): swearing in of new Soldiers, Yom Yerushalayim events, Orthodox Bar Mitzvah ceremonies that include musical accompaniment, and more.

Historically, social and religious norms are maintained by communities without any need for coercion (though, in some cases, limited penalties are invoked.) This is because those communities intuitively identify with the value of those norms and identify with them emotionally. If that ceases to be the case, as with most Diaspora Jews and a significant percentage of Israeli Secular Jews in the case of the Kotel, legislating those norms is not only an irritant. In typically Jewish fashion, it engenders an equal and opposite reaction. MK Maoz, in particular, who is supposedly dedicated to bringing wayward Jews back to Judaism should be the very last person to create such a situation. (From the Haredim, I have no such expectations. Their consistent de-legitimization of the Torah and mitzvot of the National Religious community says everything about what they think of anyone unlike them.)

Resort to force is also pathetic. The late Sociologist of Religion, Peter Berger, once noted that our world religion is both flourishing and dying. It’s dying in those areas where religion is enforced by legal fiat. It flourishes in areas where faith competes unencumbered by an establishment. The fact that MK Maoz and Co. rush to legislate whenever they are challenged demonstrates for all the intellectual lassitude, spiritual fatigue and organizational laziness with which they are afflicted.

Let me be very clear here. I am a devoted Orthodox Jew and a proud Orthodox rabbi, of a decidedly traditionalist bent. I believe that the path of Torah and Mitzvot is that prescribed by God at Sinai and passed on by the Sages of (what is now called) Orthodox tradition, from that moment to this day. True, because Judaism is a national and not only a personal concern, it also has coercive elements without which it cannot function (e.g., kashrut, personal status etc.). Still, that tradition is much wider and more inclusive than many would admit. and much more delimited than many others might desire. Nevertheless, I both believe (and history bears this out) that this tradition is the way to serve the Holy One, blessed be He in this life and the next.

I also have tremendous faith in the Torah. I believe with every fiber in my body that it contains within itself the ability to victoriously confront, overcome and function in the face of any and all challenges, whether intellectual, cultural or practical. Our present moment is one wherein the Torah is bidden to compete in the open market of ideas, in a world that sanctifies the individual. It can and must do so. It would be far better if MK Maoz and his supporters learn to teach Torah properly, in a modality that can be understood and respected by others and can successfully compete with the alternatives.

We are standing at a juncture of Jewish history. The overwhelming majority of Jews, in Israel and abroad, have discovered in themselves a deep thirst and longing for God and for Judaism. They need to be given the maximum possible ability to express and nurture this spiritual arousal. The High Court decision fits this definition. Passing this legislation, when most Jews haven’t a clue as to why it’s being done, when they will only feel abandoned because of it, is an act of spiritual homicide for which the Heavenly Tribunal will not quickly forgive the perpetrators.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)