Defiant Reform and Conservative Worshippers Hold Western Wall Prayer Service
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
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.
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