People should be given the freedom to worship the way that they choose. That’s what a liberal democracy is all about.
Yes but…
This is not far from what many opponents of Women of the Wall are contending.
As far as many Haredim are concerned, their worship requires them to be shielded from Jews who – in their eyes – are making a mockery of their religion.
When a woman wears a tallith, or reads from the Torah, this is – in their eyes – a terrible thing. It is the last thing they want to see in their most holy place.
A woman reading from the Torah and wearing a tallith is as much a disturbance to some Haredi prayer as some Hell’s Angels bikers riding in to the center of the synagogue on a Friday night would be for a progressive service in New York.
This argument goes:
We should have the freedom to worship the way we choose. That’s what liberal democracy is all about. And since the Women of the Wall deeply disturb our freedom to worship, they should be moved somewhere else.
Should we support the right of Haredim to their form of worship as much as we support the right of the Women of the Wall?
Why? Why not?
