women of the wall | Women for the Wall

JNS Story About W4W and Rosh Chodesh Av

Ronit Peskin — Thu, 11 Jul 2013 16:27:08 +0000

Kudos to JNS for correcting the mistakes originally in their story.

(JNS.org) Between\n5,000 and 7,000 ultra-Orthodox women and seminary girls turned out to at the Western Wall\non Monday morning for a prayer event in response to the monthly prayer service held by controversial prayer-rights activist group Women of the Wall.

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(JNS.org) Between 5,000 and 7,000 ultra-Orthodox women and seminary girls turned out to at the Western Wall on Monday morning for a prayer event in response to the monthly prayer service held by controversial prayer-rights activist group Women of the Wall.

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Approximately 250-300 people showed up to participate in Monday\u2019s\nprayer service of Women of the Wall, which seeks egalitarian prayer practices in the women's section at the\nWestern Wall\u2014including permission for women to wear a tallit and tefilin, and to read from the Torah, all practices women do not perform under Orthodox tradition.

The Women for the Wall group, which seeks to preserve the \"traditional sanctity of the Western Wall\" and to \"make sure that when women come to pray at the Western Wall, the experience should be as profoundly meaningful as possible,\" organized Monday's appearance of\nthe Orthodox women and seminary girls.

United Torah Judaism, an ultra-Orthodox political party in Israel, helped with logistics for Women for the Wall's prayer event. Meanwhile, a much smaller group of under 100 ultra-Orthodox men stood nearby, according to Women for the Wall.

The Associated\nPress reported that Women of the Wall accused the Israeli police of cooperating with\nthe Orthodox protesters. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld, however, denied that allegation\nand said the police were protecting the women\u2019s group. The police arrested\nthree Orthodox male protestors for public disturbance.

Editor's note: The original version of this story contained several errors:

- It stated that Women of the Wall seeks to end gender separation at the Western Wall. Instead, the group seeks egalitarian prayer in the site's women's section.

- It stated that United Torah Judaism organized an event to \"prevent\" Women of the Wall's monthly service. Instead, Women for the Wall organized a \"prayer event\" in response to Women of the Wall's service, not to prevent it, and United Torah Judaism helped with logistics.

- It stated that 1,000 ultra-Orthodox men stood nearby. Instead, under 100 men where there, according to Women for the Wall.

- It stated that between 5,000 and 7,000 seminary girls were there. Instead, both women and seminary girls were part of that group.

JNS.org regrets the errors

http://www.jns.org/news-briefs/2013/7/8/women-of-the-wall-group-encounters-thousands-of-ultra-orthodox-protestors

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Approximately 250-300 people showed up to participate in Monday’s prayer service of Women of the Wall, which seeks egalitarian prayer practices in the women’s section at the Western Wall—including permission for women to wear a tallitand tefilin, and to read from the Torah, all practices women do not perform under Orthodox tradition.

The Women for the Wall group, which seeks to preserve the “traditional sanctity of the Western Wall” and to “make sure that when women come to pray at the Western Wall, the experience should be as profoundly meaningful as possible,” organized Monday’s appearance of the Orthodox women and seminary girls.

United Torah Judaism, an ultra-Orthodox political party in Israel, helped with logistics for Women for the Wall’s prayer event. Meanwhile, a much smaller group of under 100 ultra-Orthodox men stood nearby, according to Women for the Wall.

The Associated Press reported that Women of the Wall accused the Israeli police of cooperating with the Orthodox protesters. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld, however, denied that allegation and said the police were protecting the women’s group. The police arrested three Orthodox male protestors for public disturbance.

Editor’s note: The original version of this story contained several errors:

– It stated that Women of the Wall seeks to end gender separation at the Western Wall. Instead, the group seeks egalitarian prayer in the site’s women’s section.

– It stated that United Torah Judaism organized an event to “prevent” Women of the Wall’s monthly service. Instead, Women for the Wall organized a “prayer event” in response to Women of the Wall’s service, not to prevent it, and United Torah Judaism helped with logistics.

– It stated that 1,000 ultra-Orthodox men stood nearby. Instead, under 100 men where there, according to Women for the Wall.

– It stated that between 5,000 and 7,000 seminary girls were there. Instead, both women and seminary girls were part of that group.

JNS.org regrets the errors

http://www.jns.org/news-briefs/2013/7/8/women-of-the-wall-group-encounters-thousands-of-ultra-orthodox-protestors

The post JNS Story About W4W and Rosh Chodesh Av first appeared on Women for the Wall.

What Israelis Are Thinking about the Women of the Wall

Ronit Peskin — Sun, 05 May 2013 15:37:22 +0000

Women of the�Wall claim they’re trying to make the Kotel a better place for women, liberating it from the “Ultra Orthodox misogynistic men” for everyone else. But the question is- does “everyone else” want to be “liberated” at the Kotel? Do everyone but Chareidi men support the Women of the Wall? Does the average Israeli support the Women of the Wall?

Only one way to find out.

Women For the Wall director Ronit Peskin took to the streets of Jerusalem on Thursday to find out what is REALLY on the average Israeli’s mind, how many want things changed at the Kotel, and how many want things to stay the same, how many support the Women of the Wall and how many don’t. See here for the results of the survey.

http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/what-people-really-are-thinking-about-women-of-the-wall-on-the-streets-of-jerusalem/

The post What Israelis Are Thinking about the Women of the Wall first appeared on Women for the Wall.

WoW Supporter: Its a Political Battle. W4W: Politics Don’t Belong At The Kotel

Ronit Peskin — Wed, 01 May 2013 17:00:35 +0000

http://www.haaretz.com/an-open-letter-to-leah-aharoni-on-behalf-of-religious-freedom-in-israel.premium-1.518665

To those that claim that the Women of the Wall are just about “being able to pray how they want, with no further agenda,” the above article in HaAretz should prove instructive. In her open letter in response to Leah Aharoni, co-founder of Women For the Wall, the writer, Reform Rabbi Elianna Yolkut, states quite clearly that the agenda is not just about prayer, at all.

“The Women of the Wall and their supporters are trying to liberate Judaism from the ties of an Orthodox hegemony. We are trying to build an Israel that allows all of us – yes, including you – to practice Judaism with equal treatment under the law, even though our way of doing so looks very different.”

Non Orthodox Jews- I understand your pain that the laws in Israel don’t treat Orthodox Judaism and Reform and Conservative Judaism the same. Your struggle is a valid one, but its a political one, not a religious one, because this is about Israeli laws. So please, take your fight to the political arena, to the Knesset and the supreme court, and leave the holy sites out of it.

The Kotel simply isn’t the proper venue for a battle of rights. Fighting for this agenda at the Kotel is akin to having a Gay Pride Parade in the Vatican. There is a time and place for everything, and the Kotel simply isn’t the right place to fight your political battles.

The post WoW Supporter: Its a Political Battle. W4W: Politics Don’t Belong At The Kotel first appeared on Women for the Wall.

WoW Chair Wants To Bar Orthodox Men From Wall

Ronit Peskin — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 22:16:39 +0000

The Women of the Wall have never been barred from the Kotel, only limited in what they were allowed to do there. But Anat Hoffman, head of the Women of the Wall wants to bar Orthodox men from the Kotel for 6 hours a day!

“For six hours a day the Wall will be a national monument, open to others but not to Orthodox men, she said.”

How on earth is this ok? How does this go hand in hand with what the Women of the Wall claim, that their only goal is to pray in peace?

The post WoW Chair Wants To Bar Orthodox Men From Wall first appeared on Women for the Wall.

Robinson’s Arch- The Better End of the Deal

Ronit Peskin — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 22:28:14 +0000

It’s “easy for me to say” that praying at Robinson’s Arch is a perfectly viable alternative for the Women of the Wall to conduct their prayer services, when I am not planning to pray there on a regular basis.

But what about others? What do�they have to say?

Women of the Wall, please note-
“Frankly, I think Masorti got the better of the deal. It�s visually stunning. In addition to the massive retaining walls, there are huge boulders placed there that look like they were thrown down to the street outside the Temple during the destruction in 70 C.E. One can see charring on some of them from the burning that took place after the sacking. These were likely uncovered during the excavations in the Archeological Park, where Robinson�s Arch is located.

Separate but equal is an American construct, and one that in the racist context of Jim Crow was understandably rejected more than half a century ago in the United States. But Jerusalem and the Temple Mount are not in America, and the opportunity to pray in seclusion at Robinson�s Arch is not the same as being relegated to a dilapidated, underfunded public school in Little Rock.

Sometimes separate is not only equal, it�s better.”

http://www.jta.org/news/article/2013/04/22/3124846/op-ed-op-ed-dont-ruin-robinsons-arch

The post Robinson’s Arch- The Better End of the Deal first appeared on Women for the Wall.