Israel’s cabinet secretary is expected to present a plan on Sunday that aims to resolve the ongoing dispute over the rights of non-Orthodox Jews, including women, to pray at the Western Wall according to their customs. The new plan, to be presented by Cabinet Secretary Avichai Mendelblit, departs from Jewish Agency chairman Natan Sharansky’s proposal…
For the first time since its inception 25 years ago, Women of the Wall, the organization behind the battle to wrest control of Judaism’s holiest site from the Orthodox establishment, will hold a special prayer service at the Western Wall that is not connected to its regular monthly Rosh Chodesh gathering. The women’s prayer group…
Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky will release his full plan for a compromise among religious groups at the Western Wall in two weeks. Sharansky, according to Haaretz, aims to release the plan before the end of August. Upon announcing the release plans, he said that “if we have an agreement on a solution for the…
Women of the Wall blew a shofar at the back of the Western Wall Plaza and raised a Torah scroll at the plaza’s gate as they completed their service under a heavy police barricade. Women of the Wall gathers at the beginning of each Jewish month for a women’s Rosh Chodesh prayer service at the…
Women of the Wall and their supporters will be allowed to pray at the women’s section of the Kotel this month and will not be relegated to an area away from the wall, as they were last month, according to police. In response to a question from Haaretz, a Jerusalem District Police spokesperson said: “The…
Women of the Wall asked the rabbi of the Western Wall to allow the group to use one of the site’s Torah scrolls. In a letter sent Sunday, Women of the Wall made the request to Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz for their Rosh Chodesh prayer service, marking the start of the new Jewish month. The group…
When I woke up last Monday morning, I ditched my cozy blankets and jumped out of bed before sunrise to join my fellow Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion students as we set out on a holy mission. Heading over to the Kotel for Rosh Hodesh with Women of the Wall, we knew we were…
Several thousand ultra-Orthodox protesters effectively blocked Jewish women activists campaigning for equal worship rights at the Western Wall from holding a monthly prayer session on Monday at the holy site. Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said members and supporters of the Women of the Wall group were escorted by police to a spot a short…
