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 Fierce Western Wall Confrontation Looms as Women Plan Torah Reading
Women of the Wall announced plans to read from a Torah scroll at its upcoming service at the Western Wall. Also leading up to Sunday’s service, several leading haredi Orthodox rabbis called on thousands of haredi men to gather for a mass prayer opposite Women of the Wall. Women of the Wall gathers at the…
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Fast Forward Jewish Federations Back Western Wall Compromise as Clashes Loom
The Jewish Federations of North America’s board of trustees passed a resolution supporting Natan Sharansky’s proposed compromise on egalitarian prayer at the Western Wall. Monday’s resolution, according to a JFNA statement, says the compromise “develops a pathway whereby the Kotel will once again become a spiritual center for all Jews and a symbol of unity…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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