He brought unprecedented attention to the plight of Soviet Jewry. He stood up to the KGB. He survived nine years in Siberia. He served in Israel’s fractious government. Now, Natan Sharansky is facing his next challenge: finding a solution to the growing battle over women’s prayer restrictions at the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest site. In…
Likud Party activist Moshe Feiglin was detained and later released by Israel Police after praying on the Temple Mount. Feiglin, who was placed in a realistic spot on the joint Likud-Beiteinu Party list for the upcoming election, reportedly bowed down on the Temple Mount and was removed from the site by an undercover policeman. He…
Sitting in his office 20 feet above the Western Wall Plaza, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz is unperturbed by the simmering tensions below. For years, Israeli and American Jewish groups have agitated for greater religious freedom at the Wall, which currently allows for only Orthodox worship. Occasionally the outrage boils over. In October, Israeli police arrested Anat…
Six women were detained by Jerusalem police for wearing prayer shawls as more than 100 women gathered for the monthly Women of the Wall service at the Western Wall. The detainments Thursday, on the first day of the Hebrew month Kislev, follow the arrest at last month’s service of Women of the Wall leader Anat…
A Jewish Agency committee has adopted a resolution calling for a “satisfactory approach” to prayer at the Western Wall. The resolution passed Tuesday during The Jewish Agency for Israel’s Board of Governors meeting in Tel Aviv, reads in part: “Whereas Jewish women and men, of all streams of Judaism, desire the opportunity to pray at…
Sixty-four percent of Jewish Israelis will fast and 46 percent will pray on Yom Kippur, according to a survey. According to Ynet News, which conducted the survey along with a social dialogue organization called Gesher, more than 80 percent of Jewish Israelis would spend the day either praying, reflecting or spending time with family. A…
Twelve years ago, Kevin Hines jumped from the Golden Gate Bridge, suffering from bipolor disorder and wishing to end his life. As soon as he hit free-fall his first thought was, “What have I done? I don’t want to die! God, please save me.” After Hines, who is Catholic, hit the water, he struggled to…
The Golden Gate Bridge is approaching its 75th anniversary. Along with being a wondrous Bay Area landmark, the span is famous as a spot where hundreds have committed suicide over the decades. Congregation Sha’ar Zahav of San Francisco is out to remove the stigma of suicide from religious life. The followinig is a kaddish text,…
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