There’s an interesting distinction about Israel the country that usually goes unnoticed. There’s no question that Israel is a modern political state that deals with internal politics, economics and legalities while also negotiating tricky international relationships.

 As such, many Jews outside of Israel feel that the view we have of the country cannot accurately reflect the view of citizens within the country who must live there every day. With respect, Jews outside of Israel defer to this distinction, as there is validity to it.

But the other side of Israel the country   isn’t political, but rather has to do with the fact that it’s a Jewish country, and in that way, it connects to Jews outside Israel as part of the Jewish People and Jewish religion. In that regard, every Jewish person is a citizen of this Jewish country, and every Jewish person has “internal” views about its Jewish expressions. This view of Israel does not touch on politics, but goes to the core of the Jewish soul.

In November 2009, a Jewish woman was arrested at the Kotel in Jerusalem for wearing a tallit and praying from a Torah. A Jewish policeman arrested a Jewish woman for wearing a Jewish garment at a Jewish place of holiness. This isn’t about politics, it’s about our Jewish soul.

Starting at Mount Sinai with the signing of the covenant between God and the Jewish people, the rabbis expressed that Judaism was communicated by God in multiple voices and, therefore, heard by the people in multiple ways. There is no question that throughout Jewish history, groups of Jews have preferred certain expressions and condemned others. Until recently, condemning a Jewish expression meant not attending a particular minyan. In November, it began to mean Jews arresting other Jews because we don’t like how they’re talking to God.

We should all be alarmed at crossing this line. It’s not about whether or not anyone agrees that a woman should or should not wear a tallit or read from the Torah, it’s about whether we support Jewish expressions of faith as a beautiful thing. In today’s world, we should be grateful that Jewish spirituality is finding an expression in community and prayer. Instead, we are arresting someone as if we are God’s protectors, as if God cannot defend the Divine Honour.

This goes beyond modern concerns, but frighteningly reminds us of a warning that’s clearly stated in the Talmud. The First Temple of Jerusalem was lost because of the sins of idolatry, immorality and bloodshed. The Second Temple was lost for a greater sin: baseless hatred – one Jew hating another Jew and dividing the people. How ironic that the site of the arrest was the Kotel, the Western Wall, all that remains of the Second Temple.

Jews around the world have been responding to this event with petitions and e-mails of protest. In Toronto, there will be an event planned that doesn’t respond with protest, but with support. On Feb. 14 at 10 a.m., a community prayer event will be held at the Prosserman JCC to support the woman who was arrested and to support Jewish expression.

In Toronto, we’re blessed with many venues for Jewish learning, and yet Pirkei Avot reminds us that actions must be the result of our learning. “The one whose deeds exceed the learning is compared to a tree whose branches are few and whose roots are many, so that even if all the winds in the world come and blow, they will not move it from its place.” We can choose to hate and divide, or we can choose to gather together and support.

Ultimately, Hillel’s words echo through the centuries: if not now, when?