Seventeen months after a historic deal was reached that would allow egalitarian and non-Orthodox prayer spaces at the Western Wall, Israel’s governing cabinet suspended the agreement, bowing to pressure from Haredi parties in the government who wish to maintain the status quo. Reaction throughout the Jewish world has been swift and loud. Diaspora Jews, particularly…
The ultra-Orthodox parties in Israel’s governing coalition are pushing a resolution that will repeal the decision to create an egalitarian section at the Western Wall, The Jerusalem Post reported Sunday. The move by Shas and United Torah Judaism would continue to allow egalitarian prayer at the Robinson’s Arch complex, but would not approve the creation…
Hundreds of women joined Women of the Wall for the group’s monthly Rosh Chodesh service, which included a Torah scroll smuggled in to the women’s section of the Western Wall. Among the some 300 women who assembled for the service on Thursday morning to mark the new Hebrew month of Iyar were those from nine…
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel’s Supreme Court called on the Israeli government to respond to lawsuits regarding the establishment of an egalitarian prayer space at the Western Wall. The court on Friday set a deadline of June 4 for the government to respond to the lawsuits and resolve the crisis, Haaretz reported. The court combined three…
Jewish law states that a court may not hear one side of an argument without the other party being present. If anyone should want to judge anything, they must listen to both sides of the argument, and only then can they find the truth. Many have written that the Charedi community ought to be ashamed…
On the morning of March 28, the first day of the Jewish month of Nisan, the Women of the Wall will once again gather at the Western Wall for a women-led Rosh Chodesh (new month) service. Once there, the women will likely face an charedi Jewish mob intent on suppressing, or at the very least…
The feminist prayer group Women of the Wall filed a petition with the Israeli High Court today to demand protection during its prayer services at the Western Wall holy site, the group said. Their petition was filed against the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, which administers the site, and its head, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitz. The petition…
A version of this piece originally appeared in Plus61J, an Australian Jewish publication. “If a society uses language that doesn’t have gendered forms, is that society more egalitarian?” The question from Professor Tsvia Walden, psycholinguist, peace ambassador and daughter of the late Shimon Peres, met with a thoughtful silence from the cohort of 14-year-olds at…
