WATCH: Western Wall Bat Mitzvah Interrupted By Orthodox Protest
A Western Wall bat mitzvah on Monday morning was interrupted by whistling protesters who sought to disrupt the coming-of-age ceremony.
Twelve-year-old Hod Hasharon native Noa Brenner celebrated her bat mitzvah at the monthly prayer service of Women of the Wall, a feminist group advocating for egalitarian prayer at the Western Wall holy site.
According to news reports, more than a thousand female yeshiva students were bussed in by Liba, an Orthodox Jewish group which opposes a government plan to create an egalitarian prayer space at the Western Wall.
Some of the girls, who had been pulled out of school for the protest, heckled the prayer service, with one calling the worshippers “animals,” according to Haaretz. Others prayed silently.
Susan Silverman, Women of the Wall board member and the sister of American comedian Sarah Silverman, was reportedly kicked in the shin by one of the protesters.
It has been over a year since the Israeli government promised to create an egalitarian site at the Western Wall, which has stalled due to ultra-Orthodox opposition.
Contact Naomi Zeveloff at [email protected]
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30