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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Fast Forward Western Wall Museum Plan Gets Green Light
A Jerusalem planning board has granted final approval for a museum and educational center near the Western Wall and now opponents may petition Israel’s High Court to block construction before it starts. The facility, reports Haaretz, will encompass an area of about 16,000 square feet above ground and also have “an archaeological floor and an…
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Fast Forward Western Wall Rabbi Ordered To Include Women In Hanukkah Candle-Lighting
The Attorney General’s Office in Israel has ordered the rabbi of the Western Wall to include women in the annual national candle-lighting ceremony for Hanukkah. “Preventing women from participating in national ceremonies is wrongful discrimination and we request that you ensure this fact is not taken for granted and that steps are being taken to…
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Fast Forward Western Wall Rabbi Slams UNESCO for ‘Muslim’ Vote on Holy Sites
The rabbi of the Western Wall criticized UNESCO for recognizing Rachel’s Tomb and the Tomb of the Patriarchs as Muslim sites. In an open letter to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz said the decision “cannot be explained by any historical, archeological, or cultural measure.” “Centuries of documented history prove…
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News Will Jerusalem Violence Kill Egalitarian Prayer Plan for Western Wall?
The proposed egalitarian prayer space at the Western Wall, which was meant to serve non-Orthodox Jews worldwide, looks like the latest casualty of the terror wave hitting Israel. Progress on the initiative – supported both by the Israeli government and Jewish organizations – had been slow in coming, even before tensions over Jerusalem’s holy sites…
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Fast Forward UNESCO Chief Slams Plan To Name Western Wall ‘Muslim’ Site
The head of the United Nations cultural agency said she “deplores” a proposal under discussion by the agency’s executive board that would declare the Western Wall a Muslim holy site. Irina Bokova, the director-general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO, called on the board to “take decisions that do not…
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Fast Forward UNESCO Will Vote on Plan To Declare Western Wall a Muslim Site
A Palestinian effort to have a United Nations agency declare Judaism’s holiest site a Muslim holy site is “an attempt to distort history,” Israel said. UNESCO, the U.N.’s cultural body, is scheduled to vote Tuesday on the proposal concerning the Western Wall in Jerusalem. In a statement Monday, Israel’s Foreign Ministry called the proposal “an…
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Fast Forward Woman Detained for Taking Torah to Kotel
Israel Police officers detained a women’s rights activist at the Western Wall and confiscated her Torah scroll. Rachel Cohen Yeshurun, a Women of the Wall board member, was taken into police custody prior to a service Friday and released shortly afterwards, The Jerusalem Post reported. Women of the Wall runs gender egalitarian services at the…
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Fast Forward Western Wall Rabbi Apologizes for Turning Away Woman in Kippah
The rabbi of the Western Wall apologized that a woman was turned away from the holy site for wearing a kippah, but said he was not familiar with the incident. Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch said in a statement issued Tuesday that if the incident did occur, the response was incorrect. Rabinovitch also said that the Israel…
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