Tough Like The Sabra Of Israel

 Nadene Goldfoot                                           

A sabra or tzabar is an informal-turned-formal modern Hebrew term that defines any Jew born in Israel. The term came into widespread use in the 1930s to refer to a Jew who had been born in Palestine, though it may have appeared earlier.

That's right.  Israelis are like  prickly plants called Sabra.  "The term alludes to a tenacious, thorny desert plant, known in English as prickly pear, with a thick skin that conceals a sweet, softer interior. The cactus is compared to Israeli Jews, who are supposedly tough on the outside, but delicate and sweet on the inside."

Here are some examples of that sweetness on the inside, though they seem 

appear tough on the outside just from today's news.  

                        Sabras going elsewhere on their day off, don't  visit the Temple Mount.....

"The Jerusalem Magistrate court ruled yesterday that Jews who prayed on the Temple Mount, in violation of the "status quo" in existence since Israel regained sovereignty over the site in the 6 Day War in 1967, were not in violation of any law.   The Waqf, an arm of the Jordanian Ministry of Sacred Properties, administers the Temple Mount site. Visits by religious Jews to the  area are monitored by Waqf guards and Israeli police – and all Jewish prayer, including silent prayer, is forbidden, according to the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. No sacred Jewish objects, such as prayer books or prayer shawls, may be brought onto the mount, according to the tourism website Tourist Israel.    (It would  be hard to arrest a Jew for praying silently.) 

Israeli security forces walk past the Dome of the Rock shrine, as they arrive at the Temple Mount compound in the Old City of Jerusalem on August 11, 2019, after clashes broke out during the overlapping Jewish and Muslim holidays of Eid al-Adha and Tisha B'Av. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP)

Not peace-makers but stone-throwers, Arabs making problems on Temple Mount for the police...what...do they see a Jew praying?  Could be though rabbis really don't want us there to pray, feeling one could be standing over the sacred part of Solomon's Temple where only the high priest was to stand.  Still, Jews want to at least see the area as it's so well known.  

Yehudah Glick, below, it NOT a Sabra, but he is an American-born Orthodox rabbi.  Glick is an, activist, and politician. As the President of Shalom Jerusalem Foundation, he campaigns for expanding Jewish access to the Temple Mount. He was a member of the Knesset for Likud, having taken the place of former Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon in May 2016 until April 2019.  On 29 October 2014, Glick survived an assassination attempt by Mutaz Hijazi, a member of Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine. 

 (Does anyone remember that King David was also said to be a gingy?  A red-haired man?)  He was also a fighter, AND a Sabra, though Israeli borns weren't called that then.  David was born in Bethlehem, which was in the tribe of Judah's  territory. )      

Jews are prohibited from praying or bringing religious items onto the 

Mount – and are removed and sometimes jailed if caught doing so.

The Police are planning to appeal the ruling, and stopped Jewish worshippers for going up to the Temple Mount today, saying that they will not change the status quo."  Well, at least the court was understanding, and that's what counts.  I feel for the police, though.  The Muslims will throw the fit if they see praying Jews on the Temple Mount, and then, what will take place?  "WAFA’s English-language website claimed that about 432 Israelis entered the complex, however the news agency’s Arabic-language website put the number at 814 Israelis. WAFA claimed that the Israelis performed "Talmudic rituals and prayers" on the Temple Mount."

Oy, vah ah voy!  The shame of it!  Just think!  A Jew, praying!  Such harm to Muslims!  They're doing just what the Muslims supposedly are doing!  Praying!  

                        Sabras of Israel 

Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi (Arabic: غيداء ريناوي-زعبي; Hebrew: גִּ'ידָא רִינָאוִּי־זוּעְבִּי, born 28 September 1972) is an Israeli Arab activist, politician and diplomat. She is currently a member of the Knesset representing Meretz.  She was born in Nazareth, also a city in Israel and part of our ancient tribal land of Judah.  

The first Arab woman to head an Israeli diplomatic mission, Zoabi told Kan radio that her appointment was “a source of pride of all Arab women in the country,” adding, “I am the first to break this glass ceiling and I’m proud about that.”  She doesn't even know the words to Hatikvah!  

"Meretz MK Ghaida Rinawie-Zoabi, who announced she was leaving the coalition government, has changed her mind and is back in the coalition. A no-confidence vote to bring down the government has thus been averted." Zoabi softened up, can't have your cake and eat it too, Ghaida.  You did shake up the government with your threat, though. It looks like Yair Lapid is the Sabra that softened up his attitude towards Zoabi. He was born in Tel Aviv on November 5, 1963, 10 years younger than my own son.  

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid on Tuesday appointed Meretz MK Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi as Israeli Consulate General in Shanghai, China, subject to government approval. Lapid praised Zoabi as "having rich managerial experience and impressive and varied economic and public experience," according to The Jerusalem Post.

"I wish her luck and am certain she will lead the Israeli consulate in Shanghai to new and important achievements," Lapid stated, a true Sabra.

"There is no dispute about China's importance and that of Shanghai, in particular, to the global economy. Our economic relations with China are an important engine of growth for Israel's economy and we should continue promoting them."

Seems that Yair Lapid also had to soften up towards Zoabi. 

Looks like the Sabra plant is in danger these days, like our Israelis have been for many years.  "  Israeli scientists fight to save iconic Sabra prickly pear from devastating pest | The Times of Israel.  Israeli scientists appear to be winning the war — or at least holding the fort — against an insect that has been decimating the iconic prickly pear cactus in northern Israel.  A team working under entomologist Prof. Zvika Mendel at the Volcani Center Agricultural Research Organization has been dispatching armies of predatory beetles and flies to devour a destructive scale insect, Dactylopius opuntiae.

The Indian fig prickly pear (botanical name Opuntia ficus-indica, Arabic name sabr, Hebrew name sabra) has been adopted by Israelis as the symbol of the typical local persona of the Jewish tribe — tough on the outside, but sweet inside.

Resource:

: 


https://www.israelhayom.com/2022/02/23/mk-ghaida-rinawie-zoabi-named-consul-general-to-shanghai/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yehudah_Glick

https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-scientists-fight-to-save-iconic-sabra-prickly-pear-from-devastating-pest/

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/police-remove-jews-praying-from-temple-mount-as-hundreds-enter-complex-604924

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=wm#inbox/FMfcgzGpGBBltVTPhBxssBDrZJThkqKr

SACRIFICE: Man's Need to Do So and Why; How it has Evolved

Mesha , 9th century BCE King of Moab in S. Transjordan, kindred to Israelites  like the Ammonites from Lot.  Defeated by the Israelites, later incorporated by the Romans into Arabia.  We were forbidden intermarriage with Moabites.
He is sacrificing his oldest son.   King Mesha of the Moabites worshipped a patron deity (Kemosh), in whose name Mesha conducted warfare, made sacrifices, and consecrated sanctuaries and even the peoples he had defeated (compare the biblical ḥerem, or "sacred ban"). .Kemosh (or Chemosh) was presumably the chief deity of the Moabites, although they doubtless worshipped other gods as well. Kemosh is known from earlier times in Syria-Palestine,

  Nadene Goldfoot                                                         

     
The first we hear about human sacrifice was about our progenitor, Abraham, born about 1948 BCE in the 2nd millennium, and that his son, Isaac, was to be sacrificed.  This is referred to as the Akedah or binding) (Gen 22:2). This was when the act was stopped by G-d, showing Abram's complete devotion to G-d's will.  Later on with Islam created by Mohammed before 632 CE, Abram is sacrificing Ishmael, not Isaac.  This event is found in the Torah, the 5 books of Moses with Genesis being the first book, and our history is that Moses wrote the 5 books on the 40 year trek of the Exodus from Egypt to Canaan.  

"In the Tanakh, the name Moriyya (Hebrew: מוֹרִיָּה‎) occurs twice (with minor differences of spelling between different manuscripts). Tradition has interpreted these as the same place:

• Genesis: "Then God said, 'Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriyya(Moriah). Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.'"
•                                                     
  
• 2 Chronicles: "Then Shlomo (Solomon) began to build the temple of the LORD in Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) on Har Moriyya (Mount Moriah), where the LORD had appeared to his father David. It was on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, the place provided by David.."Araunah was a Jebusite mentioned in the Second Book of Samuel, who owned the threshing floor on Mount Moriah which David purchased and used as the site for assembling an altar to God. The First Book of Chronicles, a later text, renders his name as Ornan. 
•                                                       
  
• II Samuel 24:21-25) Araunah asked, " Why has my lord the king come to his servant?" And David replied, "To buy the threshing floor from you in order to build an altar to HASHEM (G-d) so that the pestilence may cease from the people."Threshing was originally "...'to tramp or stamp heavily with the feet'..." and was later applied to the act of separating out grain by the feet of people or oxen and still later with the use of a flail.

The space of the Temple was so important. You know that there is a tradition that the place where the altar of the Temple stood, that was the place from which Adam was formed. Cain and Abel made their sacrifices there. Noah made his sacrifices there after the flood. The binding of Isaac took place there, the Akedah . . 

                                                   

To sum this up, our first and second Temples were built on the spot where Abraham was going to sacrifice Isaac but was stopped by G-d who was testing his obedience and trust in him and he passed the test.  This spot is on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.  The Mosque of Omar is now over the spot according to our history.  

                                                       

It seems that the Dome of the Rock also claims to be over Solomon's 2nd Temple site which was a rebuild of the 1st Temple by Solomon.  The Dome of the Rock (Arabic: قبة الصخرة‎ Qubbat al-Sakhrah, Hebrew: כיפת הסלע‎ Kippat ha-Sela) is an Islamic shrine located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. It was initially completed in 691–92 CE at the order of Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik during the Second Fitna on the site of the Second Jewish Temple, destroyed during the Roman Siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE. The original dome collapsed in 1015 and was rebuilt in 1022–23. 

                                                      

What happened was when the Romans burned down the Temple and Jerusalem in 70 CE, a Roman temple was later built on the site, and since the Muslim Period, a mosque has stood there, now this one. .  Some rabbis say we would be trespassing on holy ground if we go there as we don't know where the area called the holy of holies is, and the Jordanian guards won't let Jews near or pray nearby.  We resort to pray at the Western Wall since the end of the 1967 War.

Perhaps we have sacrificed the need to pray at this site for the need for peace with Jordan and Egypt, hoping someday to be included.  Or perhaps we are waiting for the 3rd Temple to be built AND continue on in peace.  

                                                            

 Sara and Abraham, first known to us as Sarai and Abram, lived so long ago it's hard to fathom.  They lived in the 2nd millennium BCE, about 4,000 years ago.  The ship, Mayflower which carried Pilgrim to our New World with Plymouth Rock, sailed in 1620 CE, 400 years ago and that seems like ancient history to us.  Think how odd they seemed to have been with their prim outlook on life, daring to sail in an ocean that hadn't seen a ship, let alone a ship with sails.  4,000 years is long ago.  We figured today that 4 generations make up 100 years, so Abram's sacrifice attempt  happened 160 generations ago whereby he was willing to sacrifice his first son, and by that meant to kill him.
                                                          

Baal worship in Canaan by Canaanites

In those days the world was polytheistic.  Abram introduced the idea of one G-d in the world to the world.  Sarah was Abram's niece, making their connection a very strong one.  

Abram, his father Terah and Sarai and her family were in a group of people who had traveled westward from the East around the Tiger and Euphrates Rivers.  They came upon the land called Canaan.  The Canaanites sacrificed human beings.  They believed in a god called MOLOCH (II Kings 3:27).  Condemned by biblical prophets and even Roman senators alike, few pagan deities were as reviled as Moloch, a god whose bronze body was a furnace for sacrificing children.  The religion of the Canaanites was a hodgepodge of ancient Semitic faiths.  
                                                         

18th-century depiction of the Moloch idol, “The idol Moloch with seven chambers or chapels.” It was believed these statues had seven chambers, one of which was reserved for child sacrifices.

Practiced by the people of the Levant region from at least the early Bronze Age of 1300 BCE  to 1200 BCE, the cult of Moloch was still active into the first few centuries of the Common Era.(1-200 CE)   
                                                                           

Pagan Baal worship among Canaanites, and one main god of theirs, god of the sky and fertility.  Sometimes it refers to the various local gods, represented in the form of a bull or a man, being worshiped as gods of fertility, both of the field and of the womb.  After the iSRAELITES ENTERED CANAAN, THEY TENDED TO ADOPT THE DEITIES OF THE LOCAL INHABITANTS, THOUGH THE PROPHETS PROTESTED LOUDLY.  

Baal was later identified with the Greek god, Zeus; Book of Kings tells about it.
Antiochus believed in Baal Shamin, "Lord of Heaven," and he set up the "Abomination of Desolation" in the Temple in Jerusalem during the Greek Occupation.  "Abomination of desolation" is a phrase from the Book of Daniel describing the pagan sacrifices with which
the 2nd century BCE Greek king Antiochus IV replaced the twice-daily offering in the Jewish temple, or alternatively the altar on which such offerings were made.

  With the Jewish rendition of this story of Abraham sacrificing Isaac, first recorded in the Tanakh (Old Testament) the binding of Isaac is teaching us G-d's displeasure with human sacrifice.  To the ancient mind, a cult without sacrifice was unthinkable.  The Jews changed sacrifice to a monotheistic tendency and concentrated them in the Jerusalem Temple using animals, instead of people.  
                                                           

The idea of the need to sacrifice humans comes from wanting to give a tangible expression to a feeling of submission to dependence on the deity;  sacrifice seeks to obtain the god's favor and atone for the sins of the sacrifice.  Often it starts with a cultic-like group, probably family, then adding people to that cult until the entire population is engulfed.  
                                                        

The first thing that come to my mind is the study of the Aztec, ancient Indians of  Mexico.  The Aztecs were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521 CE.  This practice happened anywhere from 720 to 499 years ago.  Remember, Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492.  He didn't know what he'd run into.  He could have become the sacrificial human for Aztecs if he ran into theml.  

When the Aztecs sacrificed people to Huitzilopochtli (the god with warlike aspects) the victim would be placed on a sacrificial stone. The priest would then cut through the abdomen with an obsidian or flint blade. The heart would be torn out still beating and held towards the sky in honor to the Sun-God.

Human sacrifice was common in many parts of Mesoamerica, so the rite was nothing new to the Aztecs when they arrived at the Valley of Mexico, nor was it something unique to pre-Columbian Mexico. Other Mesoamerican cultures, such as the Purépechas and Toltecs, performed sacrifices as well and from archaeological evidence, it probably existed since the time of the Olmecs (1200–400 BC), and perhaps even throughout the early farming cultures of the region. However, the extent of human sacrifice is unknown among several Mesoamerican civilizations, such as Teotihuacán. What distinguished Maya and Aztec human sacrifice was the way in which it was embedded in everyday life and believed to be a necessity. These cultures also notably sacrificed elements of their own population to the gods. 

As I see it, the Palestinians of late have been sacrificing their children in their war with Israel by being proud of their deaths in fighting.  They also allow their schools and mosques to be used for storage of ammunition.  This is not a protection of their children but sacrificing them for their greater selfish act of trying to take over Israel.  It's a subtle form of human sacrifice.  

A Montana Hospital had patients  who were rescued from cults that involved alcohol and drugs where the pregnant girls' babies were often sacrificed.  This terrible experience was happening in today's age. It is a rarity, one hopes.    
                                                          

Abram, then Abraham, introduced us to the end of human sacrifice.  When Moses had created the beginnings of the Temple and then Solomon (961-920 BCE) which is almost 3,000 years ago,  actually building it because he was not a king of war but of peace, sacrifice continued with animals.   No animals were slaughtered except by sacrifice until the time of the Code of Deuteronomy. (The Deuteronomic Code is the name given by academics to the law code set out in chapters 12 to 26 of the Book of Deuteronomy in the Hebrew Bible). The 3 varieties of sacrifice were animal sacrifice (ZEVAH); meal-offerings (MINHAH) and libations (NESEKH)  

All animal offerings had to be perfect and unblemished (Lev.23:20).  They were divided into the highest class of sacrifice, (burnt-offering, sin-offering, guilt-offering, congregational peace-offering) and sacrifices of a minor grade (individual peace offerings, first-born, animal tithes, paschal lamb). 
                                                       

Priests or Cohens of the Temple
The line of Aaron, brother of Moses, both Levites

 The former category was slaughtered to the North of the altar and eaten by the priests inside the enclosures of the  Temple court (except for the burnt-offering which was entirely consumed by fire):  the latter group could be killed in any part of the Temple Court and eaten by the sacrificer in any pure place in Jerusalem.  Before offering any individual sacrifice, the sacrificer placed his hands on the animal and confessed his sin or iniquity;  hands were laid on peace-offerings, thank-offerings, and bird-offerings.  
                                                             After this ceremony the animal was slaughtered and its blood sprinkled on the altar.  A contribution was given from these sacrifices to the priests.  The sin-offering of an individual and the sacrifice of a Nazirite had to be a female animal;  a  peace-offering could be of either sex.  Honey and leaven (bread with yeast) were forbidden with the sacrifice but leaven was offered on the Feast of Weeks and with the thanksgiving sacrifice of the peace-offering.  Every meal offering was seasoned with salt.  
                                                    

Meal-offerings were divided into oven-baked oblations, griddle-baked oblations, and stewing-pan offerings (Lev 2:4-7).  There was also a first-fruit oblation (Lev. 2:14).  Most of the offerings used oil and frankincense, the latter imparting a festal character.  An important category of sacrifice was the obligatory  offering laid down in the Bible (Num.28-9) to be offered on Sabbaths and feasts.  Other sacrifices were offered on special occasions of joy, sorrow, fulfillment of vows, or in  thanks or repentance.  The daily burnt-offering was sacrificed in the morning and evening, and Nehemiah (5th century BCE) who left Persia and went to Jerusalem as governor there and helped them with the repair of the walls and worked on the people's knowledge of Judaism,  taxed the people in order to obtain an adequate supply for this sacrifice.  
                                                               

Thank-offerings and festival sacrifices were offered when the people went to Jerusalem.  The sacrifices of the burnt-offerings was made to the accompaniment of musical instruments and the levitical choir;  2 priests sounded the trumpets and the people bowed in worship.  

The prophetical condemnation of a sacrifice can perhaps be connected with its similarities to Canaanite worship and the desire of the prophets to purify the Jewish beliefs.  As explained by Maimonides( or the Rambam (1135-1204 CE), the true objective was to attain to the worship that is in the heart.  
                                                      

The Temple Mount Faithful Organization that has developed into The Temple Mount Faithful and Eretz Yisrael Faithful Movement  in Jerusalem and re-institute the practice of ritual sacrifice  that started before 1980, of which my cousin, Stanley Goldfoot was a member. They are planning to re-build the 3rd Temple on the Temple Mount.  They just built an altar and wanted to sacrifice an animal on the Temple Mount but their plea was rejected.  They have been studying this and creating things for the Temple for years.  This is a requirement to bring the Moshiach.  Chabad answers questions about reinstituting animal sacrifice.  

Things I didn't Know: Chabad, a teaching group of Judaism, teaches the meaning of sacrifice then :

In fact, every Jew has an obligation to study the details of the Temple rites. Even little children are supposed to learn everything those priests are to be doing. That’s a far cry from the cult of secrecy that empowered the priestly class of other nations.  

There were some other major distinctions: The Temple was considered the property of the people, and daily communal sacrifices reinforced that fact. There were no male or female prostitutes wandering around the courtyards, no orgies or drunken revelry—or self-mutilation. The priests wore modest, standardized clothes, and were held accountable by a people’s court that sat right there at the edge of the Temple complex. Most of the meat was eaten—a lot less waste than what goes on at Safeway or Stop & Shop. And animals were slaughtered in a humane fashion. Definitely a sublime relief from ancient standards. All in all, it must have seemed a very strange place for the average Joe Ancient.

 The main act of a sacrifice was not the physical act of slaughtering an animal. You understand that the sacrificial service was principally a spiritual one.   when a person brought a sacrifice, his mental focus was crucial. If his mind was not focused on the correct meaning and intent of the sacrifice, the whole thing could be deemed useless, or worse.Well,   If it was being brought to atone for some inadvertent sin, he had to have in mind some remorse over what had happened. But it went far beyond that: The priests would focus their minds on the higher spiritual spheres, according to esoteric traditions. That explains why they had the Levites singing and the musicians playing. After all, if it was all just a grand barbecue, what need was there for inspirational music? Rather, it was a deep spiritual experience for all involved. You went away truly elevated.
                                                                     

prayer on Rosh Hashanah, the Birthday of the World, first holiday of the autumn, the start of the year in a large synagogue

Orthodox men praying

Today our prayers are in place of the sacrifices. So the principal aspect of the sacrifices was never terminated. Just the outer aspects that the Torah also demands, those are temporarily suspended.

Resource:https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/2942/jewish/Animal-Sacrifices.htm
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia; Sacrifice
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_sacrifice_in_Aztec_culture#:~:text=When%20the%20Aztecs%20sacrificed%20people,honor%20to%20the%20Sun%2DGod.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moriah#:~:text=Moriah%20%2Fm%C9%92%CB%88r,of%20the%20sacrifice%20of%20Isaac.
Tanakh, the Stone Edition
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-jerusalem-municipality-rejects-plea-to-practice-animal-sacrifice-for-future-temple-1.6729388
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dome_of_the_Rock
https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/moabite-religion#:~:text=MOABITE%20RELIGION%20.&text=At%20any%20rate%2C%20the%20MI,or%20%22sacred%20ban%22).

Male and Female Jewish Religous Responsibilities

Nadene Goldfoot                                       

     
We're made differently.  We have different expectations according to our sex. Not only are our bodies a bit different, but we have different hormones that are set up for different functions.  There's a reason for having 2 sexes so that we will produce children. Let's look at women first.  

Arguments have come up about our women's rights, obligations and then there's our limitations, if any today.  Women can take part in synagogue prayer, but there are obligations that only men are expected to fulfill.  We can do them, but we don't have to.  It's isn't required of us.
                                                   

Synagogue in Tunisia; probably is Mizrachi service-
Usually wherever we go we can follow the service, not matter the country's language as Hebrew will be used.  

In 70 CE our 2nd Temple was burned down in Jerusalem by the Romans and our religion was no longer in the hands of the Cohens of the Temple as Jews became either captives of the Romans or were fleeing for their lives seeking other refuge for themselves and their families.  Some were able to hide out in other places of Judah and perhaps even in Israel in the north.  Would the religion come to an end?  Facts taught to them in the Temple remained and men took responsibility to maintain the Law of Moses.  Cohens continued in their role of maintaining the religion while the Levites, those of the tribe of Cohens who were to be teachers, continued in their role as teaching about the religion while the concept of synagogues came into being.   What we do in the synagogue has its roots from the 1st and 2nd Temples of Solomon, our 3rd king of Israel.  

Saturday (Shabbat) morning and reading from Torah,
Cohens read first, then Levites, then Israelites (all other men).  

                                                        

This man is wearing his prayer shawl around his shoulders
and over his head, and is reading from the scroll that
is all in Hebrew.  Boys are bar-mitzvahed at 13 and have
received the education to do this, leading the people
in prayer.  Any man from 13 on is expected to be able to do this.
Girls are confirmed at age 12. 

Legally in Judaism, women were exempted from practically  all positive, time- bound mitzvot because the rabbis recognized their obligation to their families. Now, Christianity and Islam have both come along trying to say that Judaism is old fashioned and passe and that they have replaced us, but our religion has continued.  It has not come to a standstill, and has been able to keep up with a changing environment and situation from Temple to Synagogue, from psalms to modern music  but that we see  what is either right or wrong has really not changed at all.  Our 10 Commandments that Moses gave us are still applicable today in order to have a healthy population and a happy people whether they be communists, socialists or capitalists.   

                                                     

A woman praying as men do with Tefillin at Kotel in Israel
This is her choice, not a Jewish tradition for women
There is a woman's section and a man's section at the wall,
used to be called the Wailing Wall.

Today's women's movements of equality causing a Jewish women's desire to have equal rights-not understanding that it is an obligation for life-wanting to be as good as men.  My answer is that when men start having the children then we should worry about this equality stuff.  Then are we trading lives and becoming men?  This woman is going all out with the tefillin ,the objects  men use in prayer.  There has been a history of RASHI's daughters wearing tefillin, though it is our tradition that men use them.  There are days to wear them and days not to wear them.  There are 2 items worn;  one is a strap on the arm and the other is a box on the head used with a special blessing and each with its own special meaning. 

Women married early in life, and many still do today.  Woman had many children, and in some quarters, they still do.  Others might think that 2 are a lot.  Women used to spend most of their lives rearing small children.  It was common for married women to have children every 2 years as biologically this suited both the mother and the nursing child that did so for at least one year without baby bottles.

Small children need attending by someone,
usually the mother if possible;
today more likely a pre-school

  Women did not have time to attend the synagogue and fulfill the ritual functions that developed in it such as praying in a minyan.  A minyan is considered as a group of 10 men.  This comes from the Biblical passage in Numbers 14:27, where the term eidah which means a congregation or a community is used.  The reference is of 10 scouts who brought back to Moses the pessimistic report of their expedition into the land of Canaan.  That any number less than 10 is not regarded as a community is alluded to in the Torah in other places, too.  Certain things are not done unless there is a minyan, such as saying kaddish.  It is, according to the Orthodox Law, that only men are religiously obligated to join in public worship, and a minyan is just that, public worship in the synagogue or at another place.  Females and male children under 13 are exempt as well as non-Jews.  These people are able to join in the minyan once it is established.  
                                                     

Immigrants entering Israel with children 

So we find that women are not bound to the formal prayer service nor to the  set times designated for the 3 daily services held in the morning, afternoon and evening.  They area not required, as are the men, to join in public congregational worship.  The established principle that women are generally exempt from  these positive ritual observances that need to be done at a set time takes into consideration of a woman's primary responsibility as a wife and mother.  A mother nursing a child was not expected to drop everything in order to attend set prayer schedules.  The man is expected to arrange his schedule and his work to conform to religious requirements.  Though not all women have these same responsibilities all their lives, the law cannot distinguish between those who do and those who don't, so the leniency with regard to some observances is extended to all.  Oh, the law could have been written with rules and sub rules and clauses and such, but was written to be easily understood.  In other words, women are let off the hook in this case.  They can attend if they wish because they are older and no longer bound by household duties, and so if they choose to, they may, but it's not a rule, a law, an expectation of duty.  They're already done their duty in many ways.  We are women.  Embrace it!  
                                                      

So far, I've only seen a man blow the shofer,
something that takes a lot of practice.  

Women are required to pray, but can do so at any time convenient for them and can do so privately without attending a public service.  While it is praiseworthy of them to make every effort to attend the synagogue on Sabbaths (Friday night and Saturday morning services) and festivals, and observant Jewish women usually do so, their attendance is not a religious statutory requirement.  

In Orthodox synagogues, women and children in Israel have their own section upstairs in a balcony and can look down on the men.  That is to not detract the men with any necessary talking they may need to do or the noise of their children.  Often little boys remain with their fathers downstairs.  A man wears a prayer shawl, and in Israel it is much much larger than the American styles found in conservative synagogues.  They put it over their heads like a personal tent that helps them to meditate when praying.  It is a beautiful sight from the balconies to look down and see a sea of tents during special parts of the service.                                           

My favorite picture of an IDF friend
praying, a man wearing teffilin.

As Jews have 613 Laws that Moses wrote down for us, we also have a certain formality that has been followed since synagogues were created that is followed.  It varies from Orthodox to Conservative to Reform synagogues.  Tradition is a big thing with us Jews.  We have a long history of it.  Whatever formal prayers represent or symbolize, one thing must be borne in mind:  prayer, or tefilah, involves talking to G-d.  It doesn't mean to watch a service performed, it doesn't even mean to just sit while others pray.  It means to involve oneself in an experience where one tries to address the Almighty Himself.  
                                                          

Women serve in the IDF
Today's world has changed for women
even more than for men

"Every Jew is required to recite the Biblical passage known as the Shema (Hear O Israel) twice a day, morning and evening, in fulfillment of the precept:  ...And you shall talk of them....When you lie down and when you rise up."  So just think our ancestors, at least many of them for many generations did this, though you may not be doing it yourself today,  or your parents, or even your grandparents may not have learned to do this...But it's so nice...
     
Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our G- d, the Lord is One, Blessed be the name of his glorious Majesty forever and ever.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your means.  And these words which I command you today shall be upon your heart.  Teach them diligently to your children, and talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk on the road, when you lie down and when you rise up.  bind them for a sign upon your hand and for frontlets between your eyes.  Write them upon the doorposts of your house and upon your gates."  If I took a survey, I'd probably find that only the Orthodox still fulfill this expectation.  Notice it is not sex divided.  Every Jew is mentioned.                                  
                                                       

This brings us to blessing our home with a mezuzah, which is mentioned in the Shemah.  This is usually an ornate little box filled with Hebrew writing with Deuteronomy 6: 4-9 and 11: 13-21 lettered on the front, and the word Shaddai (Almighty) lettered on the back.  Usually the container has a hole through which the word Shaddai (Shin, raish, yud) can be seen.   which is a sign, like a reminder to us, of G-d's presence, and of his commandments to us and of our duties to him-like to remember the commandments an to do them.  Like prayer, it's called service of the heart, and we have the ritual of kissing it with our hand to reflect our love and reverence for G-d.  Male and female do this.  The custom of a mezuzah goes back to the time when we were slaves in Egypt.  It is known that the Egyptians used to place a sacred document at the entrance to their houses.  The word mezuzah means "doorpost" and refers to the sentence in Deuteronomy 6: 9, 11:20. 
                                                        

Women usually light the candles on Friday night and may do so along with their daughters.  If a man lives alone he may do it himself.  We light 2 candles at least which symbolize the unity underlying all apparent duality, such as man and woman, body and soul, speech and silence creation and revelation.  Lighting the candles reminds us of the line-"And G-d blessed the 7th day:  "  What did he bless it with?  Light.  We say a blessing with this lighting and also a prayer of safety for the family, the world, etc., our own prayer for the week.
                                                      

All men in this synagogue in Israel  with women
probably upstairs.  

Because women today are freer to do more in the synagogue should not be forcing men out of their role.  10 men should not be replaced by 10 women in a minyan.  Judaism is not to be a religion taken over by women.  Men included women since day 1.  We need to let men keep their role in our religion, or do we want them to drop out completely?  Whatever job the man has in this world, from garbage-man to doctor, he is king at home and in the synagogue.  This is one place he is needed and is important and has a role to fulfill.  
                                                        

As our ancestors went through life in Europe, the women bore the children and often ran the business, freeing their husbands to study Torah.  They remembered us every Friday night with the prayer book's  special prayer for the wife, which praises her highly of all she does for the family.  We haven't been forgotten or unappreciated.  


Resource:  TO BE A JEW by Rabbi Hayim Halevy Donin
THE JEWISH CATALOG, a do-it yourself kit  by Richard Siegel Michael Strassfeld, Sharon Strassfeld.  
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRbdB3jNDzQ,