Reform Rabbi Makes Fresh Push for Mixed Prayer at Western Wall
Image by Getty Images
JERUSALEM — The head of the U.S. Reform movement led egalitarian prayers at the Western Wall plaza.
Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, on Monday held the prayer service with some 200 rabbis and lay leaders. Most were participating in a summer seminar at the Shalom Hartman Institute, a pluralist educational organization.
The service was in support of the efforts by a group of allies including the Reform Movement, Women of the Wall, the Conservative Movement, and the Jewish Federations of North America to change the status quo at the Kotel to allow for a pluralistic prayer space, the Union for Reform Judaism said in a statement.
Following the service, Jacobs called for the decision of the Israeli government made in January to establish a pluralistic prayer space at the Western Wall to be implemented.
Jacobs told the group: “The Jews of the world saw in this decision that the government of Israel said, ‘you are at home; you may live in Netanya, Toronto, Argentina, but this is your home.’ We have got to get this unstuck; we have to express to the government that we really mean what we say,” Rabbi Jacobs stressed.
“With our proposed change–in favor of which the government ruled–every single day there will be groups of Jews from around the world who will come to this place and not feel like visitors, quietly and meekly taking our place-but in full voice, be who we are, saying ‘this too, is our place.’”
Late last month, a group of Orthodox Jewish organizations filed a petition with Israel’s Supreme Court to the establishment of the egalitarian section.
A similar service was held at the Western Wall plaza last month. During that service, the worshippers clashed with haredi Orthodox men at the site.
Did you know that only 2% of Forward readers donate to support our nonprofit newsroom? That 2% make it possible for millions to read the Forward without a paywall or subscription — removing any barriers to the full and fair Jewish story.
But while the Forward is free to read, it isn’t free to produce. Big stories — like deep dives into the antisemitism data, political scoops or reporting trips to college campuses — take months of research and fact-checking. All while we keep you informed of what you need to know each day.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Forward Publisher & CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
