Defiant Reform and Conservative Worshippers Hold Western Wall Prayer Service
Image by Haaretz
Conservative and Reform Jews held an egalitarian service at the Western Wall plaza, despite an order issued the previous day by the attorney general denying them permission to pray together at the plaza because it is not a designated area for prayer. The southern portion of the Western Wall, under Robinson’s Arch, is the area set aside for mixed prayer services.
Two other such egalitarian services have been held at the Western Wall Plaza in the last month.
The organizers of the service told The Times of Israel that they did not violate the attorney general’s order since they held a singing and dancing service and did not actually pray. Haaretz reported that the group indeed recited prayers but did not read from the Torah.
In April, the Supreme Court of Israel gave the government an extra three months to present a plan for egalitarian Jewish prayer at the Western Wall. Haredi Orthodox parties have protested any type of allowance for such prayer at the site.
The court’s ruling also declined to issue a temporary order allowing women to use the site’s Torah scrolls in the women’s section in contravention of orders by Rabinowitz.
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
