I am Not Free When my Sister is Silenced
© Rabbi Menachem Creditor
Today I am a sad Zionist. I am not free when my sister is silenced, when my mother is in exile, when my sister is assaulted.
Today women were cordoned off from their People, not even allowed to approach our Wall. The prayers of every Jew are null and void today. No voice counts unless all voices are heard.
Today God cries. It's the month of Menachem Av, a month of sadness. The Talmud tells that God coos like a dove amidst the ruins of Jerusalem, saying, "Oy to my children, who caused their own exile from My home." Today God wails with that two-thousand-year-old cry again.
Oy for our children, who deny the prayers of their mothers.
Oy for our sisters, who throw eggs at their sisters.
Oy for our People, who writhe with anger at difference.
Oy for our spirit, placed in exile by the Police in the Jewish Homeland.
Oy for God, who still cries because our sins.
