Crisis Averted! Ivanka And Melania Trump Pray At Women’s Section Of Western Wall
President Trump at the Western Wall, May 22, 2017 Image by Getty Images
By Nathan Guttman May 22, 2017
President Trump at the Western Wall, May 22, 2017 Image by Getty Images
Trump, after hearing a lengthy explanation from the Western Wall’s rabbi, walked solemnly to the wall and stood by the ancient remain of the Jewish temple for about a minute. He then followed the Jewish tradition and inserted a note into the crevice of the wall.
Trump’s wife Melania Trump, daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner stood alongside the president as he listened to the explanation at the entrance plaza, but when it came time for prayer at the wall, the group split up. President Trump walked by himself to the wall, while his wife and daughter were taken to the separated part of the wall designated for women’s prayer.
This put an end to speculation, and some concern among Orthodox leaders in Israel, that the first lady and daughter would choose to pray alongside the president at the men’s section, thus breaking the rules set by Israel’s Orthodox rabbinate, which mandates gender segregation at the wall.
Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected] or on Twitter, @nathanguttman
It’s our birthday and we’re still celebrating!
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news.
This week we celebrate 129 years of the Forward. We’re proud of our origins as a Yiddish print publication serving Jewish immigrants. And we’re just as proud of what we’ve become today: A trusted source of Jewish news and opinion, available digitally to anyone in the world without paywalls or subscriptions.
We’ve helped five generations of American Jews make sense of the news and the world around them — and we aren’t slowing down any time soon.
As a nonprofit newsroom, reader donations make it possible for us to do this work. Support independent, agenda-free Jewish journalism and our board will match your gift in honor of our birthday!
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
