April 29, 2013
In light of the District Court decision on April 24, 2013 and after 24 years of monthly prayers at the Western Wall (Kotel), Women of the Wall will return to the holy site to pray with Torah, tefillin (phylacteries) and tallit (prayer shawl) on Rosh Hodesh Sivan, May 10, 2013. It is with great pride that the women, from diverse Jewish backgrounds, adopt the important ruling by Judge Moshe Sobel, and join for this joyous occasion.
In acknowledgement of his plan for pluralism at the holy site, Women of the Wall share great respect and appreciation for Jewish Agency Chair Natan Sharansky and for his thoughtful, good faith effort to find a resolution to the conflict at the Kotel. We recognize the significance of this plan for an egalitarian section at the Kotel and commend all those who worked tirelessly together to reach an agreement that respects the great diversity of Jews in Israel and abroad.
For the foreseeable future, Women of the Wall remains committed to praying freely as a women’s only group on the women’s side of the Kotel. Judge Sobel declared, as the group has maintained for the past ten years, that women’s prayer, with Torah, tefillin and tallit, is not a disturbance of the peace or a violation of the law, but a valid, civil right which women should be afforded.
For nearly twenty-five years Women of the Wall has continued to fight for religious freedom and women’s rights at the Western Wall. As Women of the Wall, our central mission is to achieve the social and legal recognition of our right, as women, to wear prayer shawls, pray, and read from the Torah collectively and out loud at the Western Wall.
Press Contact: Shira Pruce, Director of Public Relations +972 (0)546898351 media@womenofthewall.org.il