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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Life Transgender Woman Barred From Kotel — Both Sections
Kay Long poses on the Kotel plaza after being refused access to both women’s and men’s sections. (JTA) — A transgender woman was denied access to both the women’s and men’s sections of the Western Wall. Kay Long, who designs wedding dresses, evening gowns and costumes, on Monday visited the Western Wall with a friend…
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Fast Forward Sarah Silverman Joins Women of the Wall Hanukkah Candle-Lighting at Kotel
Security guards at the Western Wall entrance confiscated menorahs from several women, but dozens held a candle-lighting ceremony in the women’s section. The guards said they were acting on orders from Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, the rabbinic authority of the Western Wall and holy places, the Women of the Wall organization said Thursday night in a…
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Life The Bat Mitzvah Girl Who Made Kotel History
Bat mitzvah girl Sasha Lutt reads from a tiny Torah scroll smuggled into the Kotel / Haaretz I am sitting in front of my computer, talking via Skype with three women in Israel — Irina Lutt, her 12-year-old daughter Sasha, and Shira Pruce — who are kicking back after a day of school and work….
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News Women of Wall Slip Torah Scroll Into Western Wall Bat Mitzvah
(Haaretz) — Defying regulations by Western Wall rabbinic authorities, members of Women of the Wall smuggled a tiny Torah scroll into the women’s section of the Kotel Friday morning, in what the feminist prayer group said was the first reading from the Torah by women at the holy site in 25 years. The tiny scroll,…
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Fast Forward Women of Wall Push for Bat Mitzvahs at Western Wall
Women of the Wall launched an ad campaign on public buses in Jerusalem to promote bat mitzvah ceremonies for girls at the Western Wall. The ads unveiled on Sunday evening feature Israeli girls ages 11 to 14 wearing a prayer shawl and holding a Torah scroll in front of the Western Wall. The ad reads…
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Fast Forward 80,000 Visit Western Wall for Sukkot Prayers
The Temple Mount was closed to non-Muslim visitors as about 80,000 Jewish worshippers visited the Western Wall for Sukkot holiday prayers. Police clamped down on security in the Old City of Jerusalem on Sunday, adding extra patrols and closing the major streets around the area to traffic. Israel Police on Friday restricted entry of Muslim…
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Fast Forward Western Wall Cleared of Notes for Rosh Hashanah
Workers at the Western Wall emptied the holy site of layers of notes from its cracks and crevices for the New Year. The notes were removed Wednesday morning under the supervision of the rabbi of the Western Wall, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovich. The notes will be buried in the Mount of Olives cemetery in Jerusalem. Visitors…
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News Was Herod Ripped Off by Western Wall Builders?
(Haaretz) — Some of the stones of the Western Wall are of lesser quality than others, according to new research, and may indicate that the contractors of the Second Temple were not above cheating their royal client, Herod the Great. “It started with a simple question. We looked at the Western Wall and saw that…
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