The organization calling itself Women of the Wall has been fighting for decades to permit women to daven at the Kosel while wearing tallis and tefilin. Despite a Supreme Court ruling barring them from doing so, setting aside the area near the Kosel known as Robinson’s Arch for such prayers, the women continue to defy the court ruling every rosh chodesh, when they arrive at the Kosel and are usually detained and/or arrested by police for violating the High Court ban.
President Shimon Peres this week announced that an arrangement should be made by which women wishing to do so may daven at the Kosel while wearing a tallis. Mr. Peres made his remarks to an audience of 200 representatives of NY Federations that were visiting to celebrate Israel’s 65th Independence Day earlier in the week.
“If women wish to daven at the Kosel while wearing a tallis they should be permitted to do so” Mr. Peres exclaimed. “Nowhere in the Torah does it state that women may not wear a tallis. We are not a church or an organization, but a religion and each of us may have a different way to worship G-d. Each man and woman is entitled to daven in the fashion s/he chooses.”
Mr. Peres told the Federation delegation that he recently spoke with Kosel rav Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, telling the rav “we must find a solution that is acceptable to all.”
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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13 Responses
its about time for Peres to start learning torah shebaal peh huh?! we daven the way chazal say not the way we choose!
Thank you Harav Shimon for your input as to what the Torah requires and does not require. A few more questions I was hoping you would be able to help us with:
1) Do you think the Mets should bring up Zack Wheeler or allow him to develop more in the minor leagues?
2) Suppose you have an array of 1001 integers. The integers are in random order, but you know each of the integers is between 1 and 1000 (inclusive). In addition, each number appears only once in the array, except for one number, which occurs twice. Assume that you can access each element of the array only once. What is the algorithm to find the repeated number. If you used auxiliary storage in your algorithm, can you find an algorithm that does not require it?
3) Are uracil, guanine, cytosine, and thymine all nucleotides found in DNA?
I await patiently for your wisdom.
1. Of all the nut cases we deal with, women wearing mens clothes and davening are among the least annoying. Compared to what Tel Aviv is famous for (which we can’t discuss here but which involves very few clothes and no davening), the women making the fuss are nothing to be excited about. Putting them off to the side seems a good solution.
2. Closing off the Kossel to goyim and frei Jews would not accomplish much and would be very difficult to do, even if Eretz Yisrael was a Jewish state with a government controlled by Bnei Torah.
isnt beged eish a lav in the Torah?, maybe peres only subscribes to 612 mitzvos (at most)
The following is written in the Torah [Parshas Shmini]:
“Es Eileh Tshaktzu…Es HaPeres…” !
To comment #2
Great comment. Had a good laugh!
Its always amusing to hear the narishkite of harav hagaon “paretz geder” whose wisdon fron the oslo accords stii haunts us
Reply to No. 5.
I like your connection!
Reply to No. 3.
I strongly disagree with you. When you said, “Of all the nut cases we deal with, women wearing mens clothes and davening are among the LEAST ANNOYING. When you say, “It’s the ‘LEAST ANNOYING’, you are forgetting one thing. The Torah is mandated by Halacha, NOT by human emotions! Secondly, Torah forbids a woman to wear an article of clothing which is specifically designed for a man vice-versa. It’s also an abomination to Hashem!
Reply to No. 1
When you said, ‘We daven the way chazal say not the way we choose! A better way of saying that is like what I told number 3.
Also Peres is Jewish but not frum. So when he said,
“Nowhere in the Torah does it state that women may not wear a tallis. We are not a church or an organization, but a religion and each of us may have a different way to worship G-d. Each man and woman is entitled to daven in the fashion s/he chooses,” it shouldn’t not surprise you.
As a rule in general when a person post comments on yeshiva world a person should make sure that he doesn’t the transgress the Aveiros of: Loshon Hora, Avak Loshon, Rechilus, Motzei Sheim Rah etc. Also a person should make sure that he THINKS before he types out and submits his comments (even if his name is unknown). This way he won’t say something that he will regret later. As it says, “THINK/WARNING ENGAGE YOUR BRAIN BEFORE OPENING YOUR MOUTH”
#5 great vort!
Lhiot Am chofshy b׳artzenu
Personally, the women with the heavy, huge shawls that cover their bodies and faces give me the creeps. Can they daven over at the Robinson Arch with the ‘tallis ladies’?
How dare the president of the state of Israel go against the supreme courts decision! Who asked him anyway for his opinion?
Peres is an embarrasment to the rest of the Jewish people!He probably thinks since he comes from a frum family he can impress us with his great knowledge.