Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel famously made a distinction between sacred space and sacred time. Jews – who for much of history were itinerant, kicked out of one country, and expelled from another – sanctified time, unlike Christians, who sanctified space. Sacred space took a back seat to sacred time and Shabbat, he argued, no matter…
Israel’s high court suggested in a ruling Wednesday that women have the right to read from the Torah at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. The court ordered the rabbi of the Western Wall to explain within 30 days why women “should not be allowed to pray in accordance with their custom at the traditional plaza.”…
Men and women who want to pray together at one of the holiest sites in Judaism could have trouble finding the one spot where that is allowed, now that Jerusalem officials removed a sign marking a small egalitarian platform south of the traditional Western Wall. The East Jerusalem Development Authority took down a sign for…
A few weeks ago I ventured out into the cold, trudged over to my nearest Home Depot and bought enough PVC to redo an entire bathroom. My bathroom is just fine, thanks. So why did I do it? The truth is, the rabbis made me do it. Let me explain. Hanukkah, the festival of lights,…
The women’s section of Jerusalem’s Western Wall, one of Judaism’s holiest sites, looked a bit like a rugby pitch the morning of December 1 as devout women collapsed into a scrum of long skirts, prayer shawls and repeated shrieks of “Call the police, now!” Some of the women, who call themselves “Women of the Wall”…
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Members and supporters of the Women of the Wall organization were subjected to body searches at the entrance to the Western Wall Plaza. The women also were disturbed Thursday during their monthly prayer service marking the start of the new Jewish month by haredi Orthodox women at the site who loudly blew whistles….
Women of the Wall prayed under police presence at the Western Wall this morning after the group complained to Israel’s attorney general about the lack of protection at their monthly prayer service. The group, which advocates for equal prayer rights for men and women at Judaism’s holy site, was on edge ahead of its prayer…
Women of the Wall, the group agitating for women’s prayer rights at the Western Wall, said it feared a violent encounter with ultra-Orthodox protesters at its upcoming regular monthly prayer service after it was told that the group’s protection falls not to the police but to the ushers who help administer the site. WOW founder…
