The cabinet on Sunday, 21 Shevat, gave its approval for the draft plan to allocate an area for non-religious prayer near the Kosel, a site that will permit the Women of the Wall (WoW) to daven with tallis and tefilin as well as mixed prayer including men and women without a mechitzah. The cabinet did not conduct a formal vote.
The approval is hailed by the WoW organization, which has been waging its battle for decades, as well as by the Reform and Conservative Movements. The location is south of the Kosel Plaza near Robinson’s Arch and it will be open and accessible around the clock. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu called the plan a “creative solution” to the problem.
Representatives of WoW, Reform and Conservative Movements will be on the council that will govern the operation of the new prayer area. The council will include six public representatives who will be appointed by PM Netanyahu. The Chief Rabbinate of Israel and Rav of the Kosel & Holy Sites Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz will not have jurisdiction over the site. What was not approved is the request from WoW to have a Reform Movement rabbi supervise the locale.
Ministers Aryeh Deri and David Azoulai of Shas, Yaakov Litzman of Yahadut Hatorah, Ze’ev Elkin of Likud and Uri Ariel of Bayit Yehudi were against the plan. Bayit Yehudi was split, as party leader Naftali Bennett supports the new initiative while Ariel, from the Ichud Leumi faction of the party opposes it, stating it violates decades of a religious status quo as well as being contradictory to a Torah way of life.
Elkin, who is responsible for Jerusalem Affairs, also opposed the plan but the objections were symbolic as clearly the cabinet was going to give its stamp of approval, which the Reform and Conservative Movements feel is de-facto recognition after decades of being ignored by state agencies. Some chareidi lawmakers told the press they regard the new reality as the least of the possible evils available to them.
Commenting on the cabinet approval, Jerusalem Chief Sephardi Rabbi Shlomo Moshe Amar Shlita called on the frum community to unite against the new initiative. Rabbi Rabinowitz has also spoken out against the new area.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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13 Responses
So they are praying by the wall … At the wall…. To the wall….let the wall answer them….
Women off the wall
I don’t understand what’s wrong here
You want them to take the Mechitza down at the kosel?
This is the best option there is
Let’s see if Chareidim will protest this as much as they protest the draft. This is just as a serious issue as the draft. If their protests are truly l’shem shomayim then they will protest this as seriously as they do the draft.
I don’t understand how Chareidy lawmakers say this as the “least of the positive evils available to them”! They need to oppose this in its entirety!
Sick! What is this world coming to?!
Hence another victory to the left. We would be better off just leaving the whole area to the Arabs as R. Avigdor Miller said before the 6 day war. Were messing up in many diferent ways.
If we would have had Har Habayis they would want to do the same thing on Har Habayis. The next thing they would want is the gay parade Ch”v. The left is getting stronger and stronger the Frum leadership does not have it together as is seen on many different plains.
Really the Kosel is a Mokom Sakono and going there after the 6 day war is hisgarus Beumos Ho’olom as the Satmar Rov explained. The kind of activities that are being perpetrated by the reformers are increasing the spiritual danger and hence the physical danger will enhance as well. It is time for us to clense and sperate ourselves from all the falsehood. It’s time for us to do Tshuva. Let us all do tshuva and listen and adhere to the words of the Satmar Rov who advised against going there.
Leave it to the reformers who are going and carrying out their shtick. They will be taken care of the by the foxes. We should stay away.
For the Israeli government’s obsession with “status quos,” they always seem to find “creature solutions” to that persistent old Judaism problem. Bibi should change his name to King Menashe.
All the religious parties and other good Jews should withdraw from the Government immediately!
Hashem yerachem!
Since its against hashem wish the wall would hide if it can.
If they so badly want it, why not give them an area on the east side of the Mikdash to use? They should have fun with the arabs near har haZeysim.
This is fantastic! This is the solution to keep them away from our davening. But what happens when the women of WOW are short a minyan; will they ask to borrow from the kosel’s men’s side or women’s side?
statistically, more and more of this crowd are halachically not Jewish.Therefore their spiritual ‘koach’ to bring tumah to the kosel will be lessened.
For those who complain at the frum MKs passing this law-this is the reality of the medina. This is what happens with politics. True, they could shrei ‘Gevalt’ but no-one would listen and the Supreme Court come up with a far worse solution.
I assume the Gedolei Yisroel were consulted. Let’s leave the ‘shikul’ to them and stop beshmutzing the frum MKs who have a hard enough job defending yiddishkeit without getting it from the frum oilam.