Last Shabbat, your synagogue held a "First Time Ever" Women's Only session on prayer and we heard great reviews! We hope that you continue with this project in inspiring and educating the women of our community.
It is no secret that the Persian-Jewish community in Los Angeles is on a spiritual decline. Unfortunately, those most affected by this decline are the women. After all , it is inevitable that without proper understanding, they will see themselves as by-standers in the women's section of the synagogue, passively observing the men leading the prayer service. Many times, the outcome of this experience is to second-guess our traditions and follow those movements that irresponsibly drop beliefs that they don't feel comfortable with.
The easy way out of this turbulent time in our community would be to stubbornly change our tradition and have the women copy the men in the synagogue service. Not surprisingly, Nessah Israel has not only found a way to remedy this dilemma, but has surpassed the initial pitfall and used it as an opportunity to elevate our women to a new level of spiritual awareness. We have become accustomed to instant gratification and the sought after "quick-fix", without realizing the crucial importance of serious thought and hard work to improve ourselves. Furthermore, we have become trained to always blame others for our problems, and rarely do we look at ourselves to see how we can improve. These two negative traits are inevitable, living in our "Hollywood" world. Fortunately, you have overcome the temptation to solve the problem at hand by blaming fault on our traditions, telling the women to slap on a kippa and tallit and to turn against the roles that their pious grandmothers and great-grandmothers took upon themselves, and then poof! -- instantly attain greater spiritual heights. Instead of trying to assign traditionally male roles to the women in order to make up for their perceived inadequacies, you have provided a forum to rediscover what it actually means to be a Jewish Woman.
As our sages tell us, that just like our redemption of Egypt, our continued existence depends on the women of the community, and so our very survival hangs in the balance of the proper understanding of this most important role. After all, it is the women that that are charged with the duty of instilling spirituality and Jewish values to the next generation. And if they are not properly educated in Torah, mitzvot, and their proper roles as Jewish women, then how will the next generation of Jews survive?
Where you should be applauded most is with your seeking the guidance of Rav David Shofet, and your steadfastness in assuring that none of our rich traditions are altered. In a community with many activist but few authentic leaders promoting Judaism, the president of Nessah Israel, Dr. Morgan Hakimi stands out as a true Jewish leader. This innovative session shows her ability to meet the arising needs of her congregants without compromising the traditions of our forefathers. This same balance was shown with the installation of a non-electric sound amplifier after consulting with Chief Sephardic Rabbinate in Israel.
In a progressive society where everything secular is ironically worshiped, we hope that you not only provide a model for other organizations on a social level, but also for us in our personal lives. This model should teach us to approach spiritual dilemmas, not by whimsically changing our traditions as we see fit, but with serious thought and consulting with those with deep knowledge of our traditions that our forefathers fought so hard to keep.
Yours graciously, Persianrabbi.com Staff Comments may be sent to
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