Women of the Wall

Women of the Wall
נשות הכותל
TypeNonprofit
PurposeWomen's rights advocacy
HeadquartersIsrael
Region served
Israel
Anat Hoffman
Staff7
Websitewomenofthewall.org.il
Part of a series of articles on
Jewish feminism
Advocates
Groups
Orthodox Jewish feminism
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Woman praying at Women of the Wall service wearing a tallit and tefillin

Women of the Wall (Hebrew: נשות הכותל, Neshot HaKotel) is a multi-denominational Jewish feminist[1] organization based in Israel whose goal is to secure the rights of women to pray at the Western Wall, also called the Kotel, in a fashion that includes singing, reading aloud from the Torah and wearing religious garments (tallit, tefillin and kippah). Pew Research Center has identified Israel as one of the countries that place "high" restrictions on religion,[2] and there have been limits placed on non-Orthodox streams of Judaism.[3] One of those restrictions is that the Rabbi of the Western Wall has enforced gender segregation and limitations on religious garb worn by women. When the "Women of the Wall" hold monthly prayer services for women on Rosh Hodesh, they observe gender segregation so that Orthodox members may fully participate. But their use of religious garb, singing and reading from a Torah have upset many members of the Orthodox Jewish community, sparking protests and arrests. In May 2013 a judge ruled that a 2003 Israeli Supreme Court ruling prohibiting women from carrying a Torah or wearing prayer shawls had been misinterpreted and that Women of the Wall prayer gatherings at the wall should not be deemed illegal.[4]

In January 2016, the Israeli Cabinet approved a plan to designate a new space at the Kotel that would be available for egalitarian prayer and which would not be controlled by the Rabbinate. Women of the Wall welcomed the decision,[5] but the plan faced opposition from other factions, including some ultra-Orthodox members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's governing coalition, who threatened to withdraw over the government's plan to create non-Orthodox prayer space at the Western Wall in deference to the Women of the Wall.[6]

In January 2017, the Israeli High Court ruled that if the government of Israel could not find "good cause" to prohibit women reading from the Torah in prayer services at the Kotel within 30 days, women could do so; they also ruled that the Israeli government could no longer argue that the Robinson's Arch area of the plaza is access to the Kotel.[7] The petition for women to read from the Torah at the Kotel had been brought by a group that split off from the Women of the Wall, calling itself the "Original Women of the Wall".[7]

In June 2017, it was announced that the plan approved in January 2016 had been suspended.[8][9]

According to Ronit Kampf, the group's struggle has been "the most covered women's issue in the history of the Israeli media."[10]

  1. ^ Starr Sered 2010, p. 644: "The Women of the Wall believed themselves to be liberal feminists."
  2. ^ "Global Restrictions on Religion (Full report)" (PDF). The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. December 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
  3. ^ "Israel and The Occupied Territories". U.S. Department of State.
  4. ^ Rudoren, Jodi (December 25, 2012). "Israel to Review Curbs on Women's Prayer at Western Wall". The New York Times. Retrieved December 25, 2012.
  5. ^ "Israel Approves Prayer Space at Western Wall for Non-Orthodox Jews". The New York Times. 1 February 2016.
  6. ^ Netanyahu facing crisis as haredim vow to quit over Western Wall pluralism. The Jerusalem Post, March 7, 2016
  7. ^ a b Shimoni, Rebecca. "In landmark decision, High Court rules for women's Western Wall prayer". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 2017-01-13.
  8. ^ Sales, Ben (2017-06-26). "Suspension of Western Wall deal leaves Jewish leaders feeling betrayed – J". Jweekly.com. Retrieved 2017-07-21.
  9. ^ "Israel freezes Western Wall compromise that was to create egalitarian prayer section". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 2017-06-25. Retrieved 2017-07-21.
  10. ^ Haberman 2012, p. 125