Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

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]

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.