It was never my intent to try to tell other people how to pray. I hoped to give a voice to those who treasure and wish to protect traditional religious practices at the Kotel. In my personal life, I am a proponent of live and let live.

Though Anat Hoffman pays lip service to the feelings of reverence most Jews have for the Western Wall, she sees the place as an “opportunity,” a convenient battlefield for her never-ending struggle to get respect from those she has no respect for.

In 24 hours, WOW has proven two things which they have previously denied: that even their “religious” activities are political in nature, and that they do not represent Jewish women.

This evening, the Women Of the Wall declared a “sit-in” at the Holy Western Wall. “By organizing a sit-in at the Kotel, Women of the Wall demonstrate what Anat Hoffman has been saying for year — that WOW views the Kotel as an opportunity, and lacks reverence for the place held sacred by millions of Jews around the world,” noted Leah Aharoni, co-founder of Women For the Wall.

There are women who are not obsessed with having to act like men – wearing a tallit and reading from the Torah – because they know their own worth. They appreciate what it means to be a Jewish woman according to Jewish laws and traditions. They know that freely fulfilling the passionate inclinations of the heart can lead to obsessions, addictions and heartbreak.