WhatsappThis past Friday, tens of thousands of young Jewish women, from various educational institutions, gathered together at the Western Wall of the Temple Mount for the special Rosh Chodesh, new month, prayers to welcome in the new Jewish calendar month of Adar Bet. They came out in response to a call from leading Rabbis shlita from all the various Orthodox communities, in order to prevent the desecration of the Western Wall by a small fringe group of Reform Jews.
The Western Wall plaza was filled with young women from all the different Orthodox communities, including Ultra-Orthodox and Dati-Leumi. It represented the unity in the community to protect the religious status quo in Israel. It is this status quo that leaders of the Reform and Conservative organizations are trying to change with provocative acts that flaunt the traditional Jewish laws that all visitors follow when visiting the Western Wall to the Temple Mount.
The provocation this Friday was prevented because the massive crowd of young women filled the whole plaza with a beautiful unifying prayer for the new Jewish month. Thanks to the massive group of young women in prayer, the small group of who came to create a provocative scene for the media, did not have room, and the provocation was averted.
However, Gilad Kariv, Israeli Reform leader and now MK in Israel’s parliament used his parliamentary immunity and went ahead with a provacative stunt, even though he had promised Israel’s President Yitzchak Herzog that he would refrain from doing so.
Oren Henig, director of the Orthodox Liba Center, said during prayers that “darkness is banished by spreading the light. On the other side of the Reform and the Conservatives stand the Israeli public, traditional, religious, and secular are united as one and in a clear voice to prevent the desecration of the Western Wall of the Temple Mount – the last remains of our Temple. The women of the Liba Center who come to pray every Rosh Chodesh were joined this time by tens of thousands of other young Jewish women sanctifying the name of the one above. When we act in unity we can stop those who are trying to destroy our traditions and the Jewish character of the State of Israel.”
Not everyone knows, but millions of people come to visit the Western Wall of the Temple Mount because it is the closest place to the Jewish holy site of the Temple Mount itself. This site is visited by Jews of all denominations and many non-Jews as well. Orthodox, non-Orthodox, traditional, and even secular Jews all come to visit.
Everyday visitors respect the accepted status of the Western Wall as a place of worship according to Torah law, basically treating it as an Orthodox synagogue, with separate sections for men and women. There is another section of the Western Wall that is available for joint male and female groups to visit and pray (video below). It is called the Ezrat Yisrael section. Hence, there is no need for these provocative acts. They are not interested in freedom of worship, but in a power, struggle to weaken the traditional Jewish character of the State of Israel.
Led by a fringe group called ‘the women of the wall’ some Reform and Conservative leaders are trying to change the religoius status quo in Israel by desecrating the traditional rules at the Western Wall, with monthly visits on the first day of each new Jewish month.
Unfortunately, now that the leader of the Israeli Reform Judaism movement is an MK in the Israeli government, the women of the wall are further emboldened to push their luck with provocative acts at the Western Wall.
What we all must remember, is that the Jewish people are one people, with one homeland and one Western Wall of the Temple Mount. While we do have different levels of religious observance, it is the world of traditional Judaism that has kept Judaism alive through thousands of years of exile and persecution. Women and men who decide who pray in ways that differ from tradition are welcome to do so at the Ezrat Yisrael section, but not in a place that is accepted as a traditional place of worship by all.
This is a place that is supposed to unify us, not divide us.
Ezrat Yisrael Section
I have visited this section many times. Few use it, with most people still preferring to visit the main Western Wall plaza. However, it is available for all Jews and non-Jews to visit and worship as they wish. There is no need for any monthly provocative acts in a place that is supposed to unify our people.
For decades, Western liberal values have pushed the envelope in destroying traditional values in society. Even though a majority of the Jewish people are not Orthodox, a majority of the Jewish people are traditional. It is not ok for liberal Jews to preach tolerance, yet to be intolerant against traditional values, which ironically have kept our people alive through thousands of years. While they have every right to practice and pray as they see fit, it is not ok for them to impose their non-traditional values on the Jewish State of Israel.
