Why The Bathing Suit Clad Woman At The Western Wall Reminds Me Of The Talmud

This past Sunday, a 35 year old woman made headlines as she stripped down to her bathing suit in front of one of Israel’s holiest sites- the Western Wall. She seemed to be protesting a bill proposed by the ultra-Orthodox party, the Shas, stating that immodest dress and tallit-clad women could face charges and arrest.

Her attire sparked outrage from the Chief Rabbi of Israel as well as many Orthodox Jews. Being an Orthodox, Chassidic Jew myself, I would be lying if I said the image at first sight was not jarring.I believe in respecting our surroundings and our dress reflecting that, regardless of our religious level. This case is no different. It felt like I was looking at a fish hanging out on dry land, or a bird chilling in the depths of the ocean. Out of place, disconnected, out of context. Bathing suits belong at the beach, not at the last standing wall of our Holy Temple.

But as I clicked on every social media post with her image and read further on the event, I was reminded of a fascinating talk the Lubavitcher Rebbe gave on an equally controversial event that took place 2,000 years ago.

The similarities between the two events are striking. Both took place by our Holy Temple. Both sparked outrage from Jewish religious officials. And both events featured an upset Jewish woman. In our case, the woman still remains nameless. But Tractate Sukkah makes no hesitation to share the name of the woman who disgraced the Holy Temple: Miriam Bas Bilga.

The Jewish year is somewhere between 3538 and 3574. King Antiochus’ evil reign is in full force. He is committed to force every human to conform to radical Greek ideology and culture. If you went to a Jewish school (or even a Hebrew school) as a child, you know the basics of this point in history. Antiochus and his army storm through the Holy Temple and defile it by setting up an idol and bringing in non Kosher animals. They murdered Jews left, right and center if they dared to stay committed to their Jewish practices and identity.

But what many Jews do not know is that a Jewish woman named Miriam Bas Bilga was especially disturbed and enraged by the tragedy and chaos that she witnessed. So upset was she that she took drastic action- she left Judaism and married a Greek officer (yes, the same Greeks destroying the Temple). Her anger reached a pinnacle in one of the most heartbreaking accounts in Jewish history. Together with her husband, a pig, and the Greek army, Miriam barged through the Holy Temple in an effort to taint its holiness. As Miriam approached the altar, she removed her sandal, hit the altar and yelled to it impassionedly, “Wolf, Wolf! You consume the Jewish people’s wealth, but you don’t answer them in their time of need!”

While Miriam’s family was punished as a result of her rebellious act, the Lubavitcher Rebbe chooses to view this event with his signature approach: unconditional love.

In a 1974 Chassidic gathering, the Rebbe explains through tears that it may look like a Jew is cut off from Judaism, but the Torah refuses to accept this notion, saying, “Absolutely not! This is nothing more than a mere illusion. No act can rip apart a Jew from G-d. A Jew is a Jew is a Jew.”

Amidst sobs and a shaky voice, the Rebbe points out something revolutionary about this Talmud: that despite marrying a non Jew and joining the Greek army, what concerned Miriam was that the altar was not protecting her fellow Jews.

While I know that the Talmudic event and yesterday's events are not 100 % similar (Miriam was protesting G-d, while the bathing suit clad woman seems to have been protesting an ultra-Orthodox law) I would like to borrow the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s radical acceptance and apply it to yesterday’s event. When we see a fellow Jew acting in a way that sparks outrage, it is easy to yell, to call out, to judge. But to take a beat and let the judgment slide away? To look deeply at the rebellious act and ask, “But what is really going on here?”? That takes courage.

The woman at the Western Wall yesterday removed her layers of physical clothing, and perhaps we need to finish her job, to remove layer after layer after layer of her until all we see is her Jewish soul, the same soul each of us possess. A Jew is a Jew is a Jew.