Women of the Wall To Hold Selichot Prayers At Kotel, Sharansky's Kotel Plan To Be Revealed In 2 Weeks

For the first time ever, Women of the Wall (WoW) will hold a selichot (penitential) prayer service at the Kotel (Western Wall). WoW normally only holds services once each month for 11 of the 12 months of the year.

Women of the Wall To Hold Selichot Prayers At Kotel
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com

For the first time ever, Women of the Wall (WoW) will hold a selichot (penitential) prayer service at the Kotel (Western Wall). WoW normally only holds services once each month for 11 of the 12 months of the year. (It does not hold a separate women’s service on Rosh HaShana, the Jewish new year.) The selichot service will be held from 10 pm to 1 am September 1, Ha’aretz reported.

Selichot services are traditionally held daily, except for Shabbat, in the month prior to Rosh HaShana for Sefardim and the week before for Ashkenazim. Many communities continue those penitential prayers in the days between Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur.

It is unclear how police and haredim will react to WoW’s decision, which it reportedly made because of pressure from newer members who did not want to go two months without a communal prayer.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s point man on the Kotel crisis, Natan Sharansky, said yesterday that he expects to announce his full plan for dealing with competing prayer needs at the holy site in two weeks.

Sharansky reportedly wants to see a joint authority made up of representatives of the government, the Jewish Agency and diaspora communities set the prayer rules for the new egalitarian prayer space he’s proposing, while haredim and Zionist Orthodox rabbis can continue to control the existing prayer area run by the Western Wall Heritage Foundation (this area would be strictly gender segregated).

Sharansky admits that division of authority might have to wait, though. However, 24/7 access to the archeological excavation area at the southern end of the Western Wall, known as Robinson’s Arch, could be implemented immediately, he reportedly said. It is this distant area, far away from the traditional Kotel area and far from the former location of the Jerusalem Temples, is where the government and Sharansky expect egalitarian prayers to take place.

Sharansky wants to build a platform to cover those archeological excavations so that the existing gender-segregated areas and the new egalitarian areas are on the same level, both with equal square footage.

This would not solve the problem of the ramp to the Temple Mount proper that serves as a complete barrier between the two areas and would continue to do so even if the Robinson’s Arch prayer area is raised higher.

Many archaeologists are opposed to the government’s plan for Robinson’s Arch and it is very likely the Waqf, the Muslim authority that runs the Muslim shrines on the Temple Mount, will oppose it, as well.

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When A Police Spokesman Lies

Comments

[Mark H. Jay]

David @ 08:55 AM:

You are a pig.

[Koznitzer]

The photo is marked wrong. The area of the Temple ran as far to the north (left) as to the south (right) and the latter is not even shown in the picture. The Kotel itself runs nearly to the intersection of the El Wad road and the Via Dolorosa.

[Koznitzer]

Much as I have sympathy for the Nashot ha-Kotel, I don't know why they don't want to daven at Robinson's arch, which is shady and has places to sit and put things down (i.e. the ruins) and is much more pleasant than the main plaza.

[Shmarya Rosenberg]

The photo is correctly marked.

The Kodesh HaKedoshim, Holy of Holies, was approximately at the location of the mosque.

The Kotel itself is nothing more than a retaining wall.

[Alter Kocker]

I fear that anything the government does will not deter the Haredim from their need and want to exclude anyone from the wall that does not fit their narrow view of Judaism. WOW can expect that their prayers will likely be interrupted by physical violence. My problem with the entire thing is that the government seems to lack the will to uphold the law and to protect WOW. At some point or another there will be bloodshed. How will Israel deal with that? Will they align themselves with the Haredim for political expediency? Will they apprehend and punish those that overstep the law and perpetrate violence on WOW? These are questions that will have to be answered, the status quo is no longer acceptable. Reactionary extreme religious violence will become the norm if the government will not step in.

[Jeff]

"Will they apprehend and punish those that overstep the law and perpetrate violence on WOW?"

They'll do what they always do - either claim they can't find the perpetrators, or make a few token arrests, then when the furor has died down, release them.

[Boychikel]

As the Jerusalem District Court has said WOW has the legal right to pray at the Kotel in the manner they (WOW) sees fit, any plan Scharansky comes up with would be moot.

One possible solution (not for WOW, but for non-orthodox Jews) would be to have special hours during which the Kotel is orthodox, and the rest of the time, when the mechitza comes down and it's non-sectarian. Anyone can come when it's orthodox, but the orthodox won't show up during non-sectarian hours.

Which brings me to another, related issue: There was an exhibit the Israel Museum in Jerusalem recently showing Haredi culture. The museum had special hours for Haredi males, and other ones for Haredi females, for this exhibit. I thought that was wrong and told the American Friends of the Israel Museum so. A museum isn't a holy place; it's a museum.

[Jake]

Bab El Wad road runs North south?

Via Delorsa is clearly runs along the northern side running east west.

[Jeff]

"The museum had special hours for Haredi males, and other ones for Haredi females, for this exhibit. I thought that was wrong and told the American Friends of the Israel Museum so. A museum isn't a holy place; it's a museum."

The reasoning was that they wanted to make Haredim feel comfortable about going to see it. You're right, of course, but that didn't really bother me. This business at the Kotel does.