Israeli Women at Western Wall

“Israeli Women Defy Custom, Say a Prayer for Equality” (June 5) describes the “Women of the Wall” (the Western Wall in Jerusalem) as “mostly secular women” who have been praying monthly for years at that most holy site in Judaism. It is a misnomer to describe these non-Orthodox women as “secular.” To do so plays into the ultra-Orthodox claim that only they are keepers of Jewish religious tradition.

To be “religious” in Jewish life today has many legitimate expressions. Reform and Conservative Judaism (representing 80% of American Jewry and a rising percentage of Israeli Jews, now estimated at between 30% and 40%) also need to be called what they are--religious streams in Jewish tradition.

RABBI JOHN L. ROSOVE

Temple Israel of Hollywood

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How interesting that the same edition showed religion in such extremes. On the front page, you’ve got Jewish women being persecuted for simply wanting to pray and experience equality.

In the Metro section, you have a Conservative and Reform temple joining forces to share a synagogue as well as an Ethiopian church mending fences with a group that left.

While the first article broke my heart, the others showed what happens when love and work for the common good override the differences. I pray for more of that and less of the hatred and fear of change. With the way of creation and the world, could God oppose change, especially when it deals with equality? Whether you believe Old or New Testament (or both), women were used for pivotal moments of change and revelation. Let’s get over our man-made rules and worship freely. It’s a grave sin to try and force others to walk the path our creator has for each of us as individuals.

KERI SCAGGS

Beverly Hills