This is the Forward’s coverage of the Western Wall, also called the Kotel, a Jewish holy site in Jerusalem adjacent to the Temple Mount.
Western Wall
The Latest
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Opinion I went to Israel for my bat mitzvah at the Kotel but an angry ultra-Orthodox mob tried to stop it
I came as a girl wanting to read Torah, and left as a woman ready to fight for everyone’s right to pray as they choose
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Fast Forward Orthodox protesters again disrupt prayer at Western Wall
Lucia da Silva's parents had prepared her for confrontations at her bat mitzvah ceremony
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Fast Forward Reform, Conservative leaders plead with Lapid to confront harassment of non-Orthodox Jews at Western Wall
‘We believe you have attained this position for just such a crisis,’ the heads of the Reform and Conservative movements write in a letter to the new Israeli prime minister
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News The harassers are loud. The Women of the Wall choir aims to be louder.
A battle of acoustics is playing out at Jerusalem’s Western Wall, the holiest place in the world for Jews. Traditionalists believe the Torah forbids women from singing in public — even at the Wall’s women’s section — and those who dare sing are often harassed. “People come with hundreds of whistles to drown out our…
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Fast Forward Israeli museum shutters its doors after 47 artists ask to remove their work
A museum near Tel Aviv, which first opened nearly 35 years ago, has ceased operations after failing to reach an agreement with 47 artists who accused the museum — and the city — of censorship, and demanded that their work be removed. The artists had asked The Ramat Gan Museum of Israeli Art to reverse…
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Fast Forward The Jewish Agency will carry your High Holiday prayer to the Western Wall
The Jewish Agency for Israel is gathering prayers from Jews across the globe to place amid the stones of the Western Wall during the High Holiday season. Though COVID-19 has led to travel restrictions and limited access to the holy site, the Agency is helping worshippers keep the centuries-old tradition alive from the safety of…
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The Schmooze ‘Sorry, Not Sorry’: Demi Lovato Visits Western Wall, Sings With Israelis
Sing with us! What’s wrong with bein’ — what’s wrong with bein’ — what’s wrong with being con-secrated? “Confident” singer Demi Lovato visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem this week. The lovable diva, whose powerful vocals and public vulnerability have made her a particularly endearing star, is not in Israel for a tour or performance….
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Fast Forward Likud Politician Offers Deal That Would Nix Egalitarian Prayer At Western Wall
JERUSALEM (JTA) — A Likud lawmaker close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has offered to prevent egalitarian prayer at the Western Wall in exchange for a small ultranationalist faction dropping out ahead of this month’s Knesset election. The move would anger non-Orthodox Jews in Israel and the Diaspora, for whom the right to pray at…
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