Non-Orthodox Jewish women pray at Western Wall for first time

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“Women of the Wall” pray at western wallThe shrines of Jerusalem’s Old City have been known throughout centuries as, among other things, tinderboxes of inter-religious bickering, violence, and bloodshed.
On Friday at the Western Wall, several hundred female Jewish worshipers known as “Women of the Wall’’ were targeted by rock and bottle throwing from a crowd of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jewish demonstrators outraged by their use of prayer shawls and phylacteries traditionally restricted to men.

The image at the Western Wall evoked scenes of civil rights struggles form the 1960s. Some 500 Israeli police officers on hand formed a human barrier between the women worshipers and the surging crush of demonstrators, who taunted the women and blew whistles to drown out the worship.

Police said that about 2,000 ultra-Orthdox women initially arrived at the prayer site at the urging of rabbis in order to block the Women of the Wall group from reaching the massive stones. The peak of tension came after the hour long prayer service, as the women exited the Western Wall plaza and boarded armored buses, which were then pelted by rock throwing and spitting ultra-Orthodox demonstrators.

Police made three arrests. Mickey Rosenfeld, a police spokesman, said that the presence of Israeli security forces prevented the outbreak of violent riot. He predicted that the confrontation will to escalate next time if a compromise is not found.

The prayer service marked the first time that women from non-Orthodox Jewish denominations held services at the Western Wall with the backing of a Supreme Court ruling instructing police that they be allowed avail themselves of the egalitarian rituals long accepted by Conservative and Reform denominations based in North America.

The group has been praying at the wall for 24 years monthly. The Friday service came a day after Israel’s national holiday to mark the capture of the Old City 46 years ago from Jordan. Indeed, Women of the Wall Chairwoman Anat Hoffman likened the milestone this morning to the capture of wall by Israeli paratroopers in the 1967 Arab Israeli War. “We are continuing in the path of the paratroopers who liberated the Kotel.

Shmuel Rabinowitz, the Rabbi of the Western Wall, expressed regret over the day’s events in an video interview with the Jerusalem Post.

“This isn’t the Western Wall we prayed for,’’ he said. “There is a place at the Western Wall for every Jew. I’m not sure there is a place for every opinion. That is simply a recipe for an explosion. There is no such option.”

Amid concern that the controversy will alienate conservative and reform Jews from Israel, the government has proposed as a compromise to set up a separate prayer area along the Western Wall.

The dispute could widen an already existing gap over Israeli policies toward the Palestinians between the more liberal Jewish community in North America and Israeli Jewry, said Yossi Klein Halevi, a fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem.

“That is what makes this such a dangerous moment,’’ he said. “This is turning into an increasingly ugly confrontation between streams of Judaism. “The Western Wall, which is supposed to unite Jews, is increasingly dividing us.’’

WSJ

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12 responses to “Non-Orthodox Jewish women pray at Western Wall for first time”

  1. Hannibal Avatar
    Hannibal

    The root of all evil: Find it in religion again. Men thinking they own religion and God. Your ticket to pray is between your legs.
    I always wondered if some transvestite woman who undergoes hormonal and surgical treatment is allowed to worship as a man. Most importantly where does a hermaphrodite belong?
    Orthodox jews belong in the history books exactly like their Islamist cousins.

    1. 5thDrawer Avatar
      5thDrawer

      True enough … finding ‘equality’ for women is still a hard task in those unenlightened minds. And as we see, the orthodox everywhere – who probably spend more time praying than contributing anything to human societies – need to be ‘adjusted’ by the moderated returning their confrontational stupidities.
      (‘Women’ have the longest history in all religions of being regarded as cattle.)
      But – as with the women – it needs to be done by men and have support from those who agree with female ‘equality rights’ too.
      When even ‘orthodox women’ come to throw stones you know the ‘programming’ has been going on too long.
      :-)) I see one thing … Muslims and Jews have another commonality they can be proud of … they all excel at stone throwing. They should get together, really.

    2. Truth Serum Avatar
      Truth Serum

      Orthodox Jews are merely religious Jews. You are referring to a tiny sect of ultra-Orthodox retards who have nothing in common with Orthodox. 99.99999999% of all Orthodox Jews would never act in this manner and you can see evidence of this all over the world. Don’t put them all in one bracket please.

  2. Hannibal Avatar
    Hannibal

    The root of all evil: Find it in religion again. Men thinking they own religion and God. Your ticket to pray is between your legs.
    I always wondered if some transvestite woman who undergoes hormonal and surgical treatment is allowed to worship as a man. Most importantly where does a hermaphrodite belong?
    Orthodox jews belong in the history books exactly like their Islamist cousins.

    1. 5thDrawer Avatar
      5thDrawer

      True enough … finding ‘equality’ for women is still a hard task in those unenlightened minds. And as we see, the orthodox everywhere – who probably spend more time praying than contributing anything to human societies – need to be ‘adjusted’ by the moderated returning their confrontational stupidities.
      (‘Women’ have the longest history in all religions of being regarded as cattle.)
      But – as with the women – it needs to be done by men and have support from those who agree with female ‘equality rights’ too.
      When even ‘orthodox women’ come to throw stones you know the ‘programming’ has been going on too long.
      :-)) I see one thing … Muslims and Jews have another commonality they can be proud of … they all excel at stone throwing. They should get together, really.

    2. Truth Serum Avatar
      Truth Serum

      Orthodox Jews are merely religious Jews. You are referring to a tiny sect of ultra-Orthodox retards who have nothing in common with Orthodox. 99.99999999% of all Orthodox Jews would never act in this manner and you can see evidence of this all over the world. Don’t put them all in one bracket please.

  3. spepper Avatar
    spepper

    In the Hebrew tradition, there is a valid reason why it was MEN and not WOMEN who were designated for certain “acts of obedience”, one of which is generically referred to as “temple worship” (meaning to approach a location designated by God), which the Western Wall is currently used as the “substitute” for– it is because the MAN (via the “fall from grace” of ADAM) was how SIN originally entered the WORLD (which is why the man JESUS could ONLY be born of a VIRGIN, to avoid the sin-tainted blood of the male bloodline). Yes, EVE was the one who first ate of the fruit of the “forbidden tree” by the seduction of Satan, but of the two, it was ADAM from whom the act of disobedience against GOD was judged as SIN. Thus, MEN were the ones who were held responsible from then on, to make the gesture towards GOD codifed later as “temple worship”– which DID NOT LEAVE WOMEN OUT OF THE PROCESS, especially since a HEBREW WOMAN (the Virgin Mary) was selected as the “ark vessel” through whom the Lord & Savior Himself would enter the world. These women who pray at the Western Wall are simply not following the correct historical Hebrew system of worship– while they may claim their status of Hebrew descendancy, they are not in accordance with the historical religious practice of their ancestors. Their attempt at taking the place of their male counterparts shows them to be completely ignorant of why MEN were required to perform those acts in the first place.

    1. 5thDrawer Avatar
      5thDrawer

      So .. now women want to be blamed too … and are willing to ‘share’ in the supposed SIN.
      So .. why not?? :-)) The ‘validity’ is a thing of the past.
      Throwing rocks at them all the time doesn’t seem less sinful … although maybe it’s only Christians who think like THAT … and we know ‘all those other guys’ were not too happy with us not throwing rocks…. Right? ;–)

  4. spepper Avatar
    spepper

    In the Hebrew tradition, there is a valid reason why it was MEN and not WOMEN who were designated for certain “acts of obedience”, one of which is generically referred to as “temple worship” (meaning to approach a location designated by God), which the Western Wall is currently used as the “substitute” for– it is because the MAN (via the “fall from grace” of ADAM) was how SIN originally entered the WORLD (which is why the man JESUS could ONLY be born of a VIRGIN, to avoid the sin-tainted blood of the male bloodline). Yes, EVE was the one who first ate of the fruit of the “forbidden tree” by the seduction of Satan, but of the two, it was ADAM from whom the act of disobedience against GOD was judged as SIN. Thus, MEN were the ones who were held responsible from then on, to make the gesture towards GOD codifed later as “temple worship”– which DID NOT LEAVE WOMEN OUT OF THE PROCESS, especially since a HEBREW WOMAN (the Virgin Mary) was selected as the “ark vessel” through whom the Lord & Savior Himself would enter the world. These women who pray at the Western Wall are simply not following the correct historical Hebrew system of worship– while they may claim their status of Hebrew descendancy, they are not in accordance with the historical religious practice of their ancestors. Their attempt at taking the place of their male counterparts shows them to be completely ignorant of why MEN were required to perform those acts in the first place.

    1. 5thDrawer Avatar
      5thDrawer

      So .. now women want to be blamed too … are willing to ‘share’ in the SIN.
      So .. why not?? :-))
      Throwing rocks at them all the time doesn’t seem less sinful ….

  5. Truth Serum Avatar
    Truth Serum

    Anybody, ANYBODY, is allowed to visit the wall. I have been many times with other Christians, Hindus and Muslims. The issue is that the vast majority of people follow Orthodox Judaism – even non – religious Jews will still have their weddings and other things under Orthodoxy. Reform is a weird invention popular only in America. They do not regard the Jewish laws as binding, but as “guidelines” that can easily be ignored. I am 100% for religious freedom but keeping the most sacred site to Judaism holy under the law that ALL Jews respect makes the most sense to me. It is unfair for the majority of Jews to be forced to pray in a way that is not “kosher” for them.

  6. Truth Serum Avatar
    Truth Serum

    Anybody, ANYBODY, is allowed to visit the wall. I have been many times with other Christians, Hindus and Muslims. The issue is that the vast majority of people follow Orthodox Judaism – even non – religious Jews will still have their weddings and other things under Orthodoxy. Reform is a weird invention popular only in America. They do not regard the Jewish laws as binding, but as “guidelines” that can easily be ignored. I am 100% for religious freedom but keeping the most sacred site to Judaism holy under the law that ALL Jews respect makes the most sense to me. It is unfair for the majority of Jews to be forced to pray in a way that is not “kosher” for them.

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