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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News Ultra-Orthodox Rabbi Slams Reform Jews as ‘Heretics’ — but Backs Western Wall Prayer Deal Anyway
(JTA) — Rabbi Avigdor Nebenzahl, former chief rabbi of Jerusalem’s Old City, is no fan of Reform and Conservative Judaism. In a letter sent Thursday to Israel’s chief rabbis, the haredi Orthodox Nebenzahl calls the movements “heretical religions.” They are “uprooting the religion and hurting everything holy to us,” he writes. “Their war against the…
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Fast Forward Ultra-Orthodox Man Burns Reform Prayer Book at Western Wall
A haredi Orthodox man burned a Reform prayer book while protesting a women’s prayer service at the Western Wall. The man, Itamar Gadassi, set the book on fire during the monthly service Wednesday of Women of the Wall, which meets at the wall’s women’s section. Protesters regularly shout epithets at the group and have thrown…
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Fast Forward Women of the Wall Draws 100 to Prayer Service After Kotel Deal
Women of the Wall drew 100 women to its monthly service a week and a half after the adoption of a compromise over the future of prayer at the Western Wall. Haredi Orthodox protesters shouted insults at the worshippers Wednesday, according to a press release from the group, which conducts monthly services in the wall’s…
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Fast Forward Archeologists Slam Construction at Western Wall for Egalitarian Prayer Deal
New construction aimed at providing a space for non-Orthodox prayer at the Western Wall would damage “the most important archaeological site for the Jewish people,” a group of Israeli archaeologists said. In a letter to Benjamin Netanyahu, nine senior archaeologists urged the prime minister to abort plans for construction, the Times of Israel reported. The…
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Life Why the Western Wall Deal is a Victory for Now
(JTA) – On the morning of Dec. 1, 1988, a group of about 70 Jewish women entered the sacred space of the Western Wall. The women represented all the major streams of Judaism. Some wore prayer shawls or kippahs. Some did not. One woman cradled a Torah in her arms. Together, their voices rose in…
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Life Women Wrap Tefillin Together — But Split Over Western Wall Compromise Deal
Huddled in the cold rain at the women’s section of the Western Wall Plaza, Anat Hoffman, veteran leader of Women of the Wall, removed her jacket, rolled up her long sleeves, and put on tefillin (phylacteries) for the first time in her life. Although she has been fighting for the right of women to pray…
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Fast Forward Muslims Reject Egalitarian Prayer Plan for Western Wall
The Waqf, the Islamic trust that oversees the Temple Mount, says it opposes an expanded egalitarian prayer area at the Western Wall. The Waqf has filed a complaint with the Israel Police and will consider other steps, The Associated Press reported Sunday, citing Omar Kiswani, director of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound. The Muslim body lays…
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Opinion Kotel Plan Sends Strong Message to All Israelis — Especially Girls
As a member of Women of the Wall for more than 20 years, and as part of the group’s negotiating team, I believe that the creation of a third section of the Kotel sets a strong precedent in women’s status in Israel: women as administrators of a holy site, women as leaders, women as an…
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