The story of David Rosen
I had come to Israel to study for a semester. We were a small group of twenty-eight from all over the US and Canada and I was thrilled to be back learning in a chevr, a small group, and exploring everything Jerusalem had to offer. I became good friends with Andy Sacks, one of the young Conservative rabbis who lived in Jerusalem and taught some of our classes. The night before Shavuot, Andy called and said he had planned an egalitarian minyan in the Kotel plaza, would we like to come? It sounded wonderful. Shavuot celebrates God's giving the Torah to the children of Israel. The tradition is to walk to the Kotel and pray, dance, celebrate in as many ways as you can. We had no idea then that our manner of celebration would cause such venomous rioting.....
