Jerusalem – The Women of the Wall prayer rights activist group will hold their monthly prayer service at the Western Wall today and the Jerusalem police has stated that the group will be able to pray in the women’s section at the site.
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Last month, thousands of haredi schoolgirls filled the women’s section entirely preventing WoW from holding their service there, and were forced to conduct it at the entrance to the Western Wall plaza complex away from the wall.
The group expressed intense displeasure with the arrangements last month, saying that the police should have enabled them to pray in the area facing the wall behind the main prayer sections for men and women at the very least.
WoW has announced that it will blowing the shofar in today’s morning prayers, as is customary in the month of Elul, and will also bring a Torah scroll to the entrance of the complex.
It is not permitted to bring private Torah scrolls into the area so only the scrolls held by the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, which administers the site, are available for use.
Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, rabbi of the Western Wall and chairman of the Foundation, has not allowed WoW use of these Torah scrolls.
A decision by the Jerusalem District Court in April this year ruled that women should be permitted to don prayer shawls and pray according to their own customs at the Western Wall, something that was hitherto prohibited.
Before the ruling, the police have enforced a 2003 ruling of the Supreme Court and directives from the Justice Ministry that upheld the Regulations for the Protection of Holy Places to the Jews, dating from 1981, that forbids performing religious ceremonies that are “not according to local custom” or that “may hurt the feelings of the worshipers” at the site, where local custom is interpreted to mean Orthodox practice.
This prevented women from performing Jewish customs usually carried out only by men in Orthodox practice such as wearing a prayer shawl or reading from the Torah.
On Wednesday, the office of Rabinowitz announced that both he and the Jerusalem police were calling on haredi representatives in the Jerusalem Municipality to prevent haredi school girls from going to the Western Wall this month, in light of security concerns ahead of the last day of Ramadan and large number of Muslims expected to arrive in the Old City and the Temple Mount.
Haredi politicians from United Torah Judaism, both national and municipal, were the driving force behind recent haredi protests against the Women of the Wall.
Rabinowitz said he also called on the WoW to come “according to the previous arrangement” and not to wear tephillin.
Content provided as courtesy by The Jerusalem Post
These women only want to provoke a reaction, and create an incident. They’ve been offered a place by the Har Habayis to pray (in their custom) in peace, where no one will bother them, but they dont want that, they want to pray specifically where they will cause a ruckus and incident. They want the rest of Judaism to change its customs to suit their demands. Judaism has a 2,000+ year old custom of men and women praying separately by the Har Habayis.
After the six day war when theJewish world was ecstatic that the Israeli army captured the Kosel the Satmar rebbe was the only one saying we should not go to the Kotel one of the reasons he gave becuase of the Pritzus it will cuase.Now,one has to be foolish not to admit how right he was.We would of been better off if the Kotel stayed under Jordan at least the Pritzus done by Arabs is not our sin.The Pritzus done by Jews we are all responsible for.
Wall-nut agitators!
Go back to your husbands (or wives).
Stop showing the world how stupid you are!
Do you know why women’s feet are smaller than men’s feet?
It’s an evolutionary thing. Women’s feet are smaller so that they can stand closer to the kitchen sink.
Rabinowitz is a coward? I hope THOUSANDS of shomray torah u’mitzvos girls/women come to the kosel for davening! They wouldn’t DARE throw them out!
Now in Chodesh Elul when we need so much Rachmim, we should work on Ahavas Chaveirim, Sholom, Anonovoh, Middos Tovos, Etc. We should be understanding of Yiddishe people who want to get close to Hashem in their own way.
Maybe maybe we will finally have the Geulah Shleimo.
Let’s remember that Eily Hakohen also did not understand what Chana (The Woman) wanted. He thought that she is acting drunk, but Hashem thought otherwise.
The court ruled that “women should be permitted to don prayer shawls and pray according to their own customs” I wonder how long these women have had these “customs” and from where did they originate? They certainly are not “customs” passed down from prior generations. Since when does an aberration become a “custom”?
Lol number five was very funny about women standing closer to the kitchen sink. I called my daughter in israel that she should be at the kosel a half hour earlier than these wow women. She went last month to protest against these reform heretics as well. I’m proud of her. I’m going next rosh chodesh and I’m bringing a sign that reads,because of you wild women the wailing wall is still wailing.
I meanth comment number three was funny. Maybe a bumper sticker for my car reading womens feet are smaller to be closer to the kitchen sink.
I guess Muslims and Christians are now free to pray their Deities on their knees at the Kosel as well now……
Why can’t we just ignor them?
Who knows we may lose the kosel to the arabs if these wow women keep disgracing kosel area. I just began reading the new avigdor miller book on what caused holocaust. It looks like israels government is heading in same direction. You derclare war on G-d and you see what happens. The book is called a divine madness rabbi avigdor miller defense of Ha-shem in the matter of the holocaust.
When I go into any shul I sit to meditate for a few minutes, say the davening, learn a bit and say Tehillim and then leave in peace. I do not go to make demonstrations and to cause distractions to the other attendees. The WoW participants are there specifically to create a ruckus. Their actions do violence to the whole notion of prayer, no matter what your denominational preference may be.
How about a group of muslims or christians start coming to pray at the kotel will it be allowed? its a free country!
You guys are missing the biggest joke of all!!
The way that women is wearing the talis, is not even kosher!
so much for wanting ‘to come closer to hashem”.
(As for #3, please dont be on my side, you’re an embarassment. Besides lol maybe womens feet are smaller so that they can stand closer to the kosel.)
(PS: hard to argue with one point of #2 ; if it were under Arab hands Hashem yishmor, there would be no such problem and there certainly wouldnt be no gay parade showing off how we disregard hashem. )