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
-
Fast Forward Police Brace for Fresh Clashes Between Women and Ultra-Orthodox at Kotel
Jerusalem District Police are preparing for another round of confrontations at the Western Wall next Sunday, as tensions continue to escalate surrounding the Women of the Wall’s demand for equal worship at Judaism’s holiest site. Police were also on guard after threatening letters were sent to the Chief Rabbinate and to the rabbi in charge…
-
Opinion A Woman’s Place is at Prayer — at Kotel or Upper West Side
Nearly 20 years ago I was living on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, a haven for observant Conservative Jews. I had my choice of multiple minyanim to attend; even the crowded weekend city streets had an air of the Sabbath, and kosher food abounded. There were so many Conservative and egalitarian options that I rarely ventured…
-
Opinion Balkanization of Western Wall Prayer ls Threat to Jewish Unity
I really must avoid spicy foods — even my wife’s scrumptious jalapeno pepper-laced cornbread — before retiring at night. The recipe’s great, but for someone approaching 60, it’s also a recipe for indigestion-fueled nightmares. The scene of my latest bad dream: the Kotel, or Western Wall, in Jerusalem. The time: some future point, may it…
-
Fast Forward U.N. Trip to Jerusalem Scrapped by Israel
Israel on Monday cancelled a visit by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to Jerusalem’s Old City, saying the Palestinians had sought to politicise a conservation mission. No one was immediately available for comment at UNESCO’s Paris headquarters. A month ago, it announced it would send experts to Jerusalem in mid-May to…
-
Opinion ‘War’ With Ultra-Orthodox Over Western Wall? Bring It On
My first reaction to the ugly confrontation at the Western Wall on Friday was to be appalled and sickened. Attacks carried out mostly by ultra-Orthodox men, who heckled, shouted, and threw things at approximately 100 members of Women of the Wall attempting to pray at Judaism’s most sacred site, were a chillul Hashem, a desecration…
-
News Palestinians Mourn Neighborhood Razed by Israel in Shadow of Western Wall
Many Israelis marked the 46th anniversary of Jerusalem’s reunification, as they see it, with the fanfare that has become a staple of Jerusalem Day, the holiday first declared by the government in 1968 to mark the historic event. The May 8 celebration, which Israel’s chief rabbinate has also declared a religious holiday, was punctuated by…
-
Fast Forward Western Wall’s Many Planned Jewish Makeovers — And Why They Died
In 1990 El Al Israel Airlines caused, indirectly, great embarrassment to Israel with an advertisement that appeared in its in-flight magazine at the time, IsraELAL. The ad, for the jewelry company NDC, appeared on the back cover, and featured an image of the Third Temple in the center of the Temple Mount plaza. The Dome…
-
Fast Forward Tzipi Livni Defends Women’s Egalitarian Prayer at Western Wall
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni told Religious Affairs Minister Naftali Bennett on Wednesday night she would not support changes to the law governing the holy sites that he is promoting to limit the activities of Women of the Wall. Livni told Bennett that such amendments required the justice minister’s approval. The regulations Bennett is working on…
Most Popular
- 1
News What We Know About Jeffrey Epstein’s Childhood
- 2
News An audiobook narrator told Zionists to kill themselves. A popular romance novelist hired him anyway.
- 3
Opinion The dark message behind Tucker Carlson’s attempt to drum up drama in Israel
- 4
Opinion The ‘Hymietown’ affair degraded Black-Jewish relations. Jesse Jackson wasn’t the real culprit
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward At Berlin screening, former Israeli hostages see film about their captivity rewritten after redemption
-
Theater He may have been the world’s most famous mime, but in this play, he won’t shut up
-
Fast Forward US soldier who protected Jews in POW camp during WWII to be awarded Medal of Honor
-
Fast Forward Jewish hockey star Jack Hughes’ overtime goal propels US to historic gold medal in Olympic hockey
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism