Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of the Western Wall, also called the Kotel, a Jewish holy site in Jerusalem adjacent to the Temple Mount.
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The Latest
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Israel News Religious Rift Deepens Between Israel and Diaspora
Chances for de-escalation between Israel’s religious establishment and non-Orthodox movements in Israel and North America appear increasingly unlikely as new developments pile atop old ones adding layers of injury. Today, events seem to be careening toward a perfect storm. In recent weeks alone, the government has made clear that it intends to renege, for the…
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Community My Saddest Day in Israel Came at the Western Wall
The Kotel (the Western Wall), located in the heart of the Old City of Jerusalem, is unquestionably the holiest place in the world for the Jewish people. The remaining piece, the retaining wall of the Second Temple, is the place toward which Jews have prayed for as long as there have been a Jewish people….
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The Schmooze Scott Disick Visits Israel, Finds ‘Hashem is Everywhere’
A year ago, Kanye West and Kim Kardashian West were the talk of Israel when they baptized their daughter, North, in the Armenian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. Today, Scott Disick, Kourtney Kardashian’s Jewish ex-boyfriend, was the one looking for a religious experience in the city. The “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” star…
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Fast Forward Western Wall Prayer Battle Heads to Court as Deal Stalls
JERUSALEM — The negotiating team supporting the implementation of the agreement to create an egalitarian prayer space at the Western Wall said in a letter that it is planning to initiate legal action in Israel’s Supreme Court. In the letter sent Sunday to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the negotiating team, including representatives of the…
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News WATCH: Ultra-Orthodox Rip Up Prayer Book To Protest Western Wall Bat Mitzvah
A video by Israeli feminist organization Women of the Wall reveals an Orthodox man ripping a prayer book to shreds in protest of women reading at the Western Wall and an American girl’s bat mitzvah. Established in 1988, WOW gathers once a month at Rosh Hodesh to read from the Torah in protest of Orthodox…
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Fast Forward Defiant Reform and Conservative Worshippers Hold Western Wall Prayer Service
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…
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Fast Forward Reform Rabbi Makes Fresh Push for Mixed Prayer at Western Wall
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…
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Israel News Feminists Facing New Enemy in Western Wall Prayer Battle — Settlers
Non-Orthodox Jews and ultra-Orthodox Jews have been fighting over the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest site, for 28 years. The ultra-Orthodox want to maintain the status quo at the wall, where men’s and women’s section are separated by a partition. Liberal Jews want a place for men and women to pray together. Now another group has…
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