Sukkot 2016: Shira Ben Sasson-Furstenberg

Shira Ben Sasson-Furstenberg writes, "I don't want to be a Torah observant woman that is a guest in Israel's Jewish arena because she is not a man. It is expected that she will not participate, that she will remain behind the mehitza, at the back of the bus."

21/10/2016 15:11

Tags: Sukkot 2016

To be a guest. To be guests.

Being hosted can be such a lovely experience. You are fussed over, you are respected. It's an opportunity to sit back, to meet a home and family that are a little or a lot different than my home and family. Taste new foods, listen to new tunes... it's so nice to be hosted.

Sukkot is the holiday of accommodation. We invite our exalted guests to our Sukkah, our respected guests. The walls of the Sukkah are open, and we welcome those with whom it is pleasant or important for us to spend the Festival days with.

But in my own home (Israel), I don't want to be a guest. That's not right, and it's not pleasant. In my home, I want to be the hostess. When I am invited to be a guest my own home, I feel the inherent dissonance of this backwards situation. I want to be a participating member of my synagogue, not a guest.

A participating member of the Western Wall community, not a guest.

A participating member of the Jewish community's ritual baths,

Involved with State budgets and municipal budgets.

A participating member in the kashrut certification system,

Involved even in the maintenance of our cemeteries.

I don't want be a guest.

I don't want the Conservative and Reform communities, houses of study, and houses of worship to be guests in our cities and in our country.

I don't want to be a Torah observant woman that is a guest in Israel's Jewish arena because she is not a man. It is expected that she will not participate, that she will remain behind the mehitza, at the back of the bus.

I don't want the Conservative and Reform communities, houses of study, and houses of worship to be guests in our cities and in our country.

The "hosts" of Israeli Judaism sometimes smile and permit us to be guests, and sometimes they don't even allow that.

Thanks, but no thanks.

It is our privilege to live during an era of wealth of Jewish alternatives to select from. Let's not wait for someone to give us the keys to our own home. Let us run our own home, as hosts. We'll start inviting guests over; instead of being invited as guests. We will get married under meaningful, egalitarian wedding canopies. We will eat at restaurants that offer a new model of kashrut. We will celebrate Shabbat, the holidays, and important life cycle events (throughout the course of our lives) - not as guests; but rather - as if we were truly living in our own home.