Women and men are equal in Judaism and before G-d, but they are different and play different roles. Is that so hard to understand? You have no right to provoke, not at the Kotel.

For decades, Anat Hoffman claimed that WoW simply wanted to pray in its own fashion, despite dozens of editorials and statements from WoW leaders about forcing traditional women to “change their world view,” in the words of its late founder, Rivka Haut. The abandonment of common standards leads not to a single fissure, but fragmentation.

Supporters of the WoW frequently argue that female Kotel worshipers should be allowed to pray as they do at home, including reading Torah and singing loudly – curiously, though, non-Orthodox Jews have never complained about another major way they are unable to worship at the Kotel as they do at home: with musical instruments on Shabbat.

Women of the Wall are free to make the case that their feminist vision should trump Jewish tradition. But seeking to flaunt their conviction in the faces of others for whom it is anathema is crass.

With its recent incursion into the main Kosel plaza, “Women Of the Wall” has made it clear that it has no interest in avoiding offense, but rather, on the contrary, is committed to being “in the face” of the vast majority of regular visitors to the Kosel for tefillah, whom it views as the enemy.