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 Rabbis Recruit Ultra-Orthodox Girls for Western Wall Prayer Counter Protest
Thousands of girls from ultra-Orthodox seminaries in Jerusalem are expected to protest at the Western Wall on Friday, in response to a court ruling permitting the Women of the Wall prayer group to hold non-Orthodox services in the central plaza of the holy site. Rabbi Aharon Leib Shteinman, the head of the Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox community,…
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Fast Forward Women of Wall Brace for Confrontation at Monthly Western Wall Protest
Anticipating provocations by ultra-Orthodox individuals and groups at their monthly prayer service at the Western Wall on Friday, Women of the Wall have instructed supporters and activists planning to participate in the event not to “engage in conflict – verbal or physical” with any of the protesters. Ultra-Orthodox protesters have made a practice in recent…
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Opinion The Case for a New Kotel
To paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of the demise of a bold plan to provide equal space for egalitarian prayer at the Western Wall in Jerusalem are greatly exaggerated. But that doesn’t mean they may not become true. Which is why it is so important that American Jews find every bit of common ground they can…
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Fast Forward Confusion Reigns as Women Plan Monthly Prayer at Western Wall
Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky presented his proposal on the Women of the Wall to the Knesset Committee on the Status of Women on Tuesday. The proposal to set up a new egalitarian prayer section at the holy site, which has the support of the Reform and Conservative movements, centers around renovating the Robinson’s Arch…
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Fast Forward Reform Leader Rick Jacobs Backs Compromise Prayer Plan for Western Wall
The head of the Reform movement endorsed a plan for egalitarian prayer at the Western Wall. “At this moment I believe our path forward and our path is to support the bold, audacious proposals by Natan Sharansky,” Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, said Friday at Connections 2013, the 36th International…
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Fast Forward Natan Sharansky’s Western Wall Prayer Plan Loses Support — On Both Sides
Natan Sharansky’s proposal to reduce tensions at the Western Wall has lost support from both traditional supporters and opponents of egalitarian prayer at the holy site. When Sharansky, chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, made the plan public a few weeks ago, it received at least tacit approval from a range of activists, including…
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Fast Forward Women Plan To Read From Torah Scrolls in Western Wall Push
Women seeking equal prayer rights at the Western Wall are planning a further challenge to Jewish Orthodox tradition at the site after a court ruling bolstered their cause, an activist said on Sunday. The Women of the Wall movement hopes to have its members read from a Torah (holy scriptures) scroll at the Jerusalem site,…
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Fast Forward Kotel Rabbi Questions Natan Sharansky’s Plan for Egalitarian Prayer
Shmuel Rabinowitz, the rabbi of the Western Wall, said rabbis must weigh whether to oppose a compromise proposal over egalitarian prayer at Judaism’s holiest site. In a statement Thursday, Rabinowitz vowed to fight against “the slightest deviation” from customary practice at the Western Wall. However, he left unclear whether the compromise forged by Jewish Agency…
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