Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews gathered at the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City on Friday morning to prevent Women of the Wall, along with hundreds of Conservative and Reform worshipers, from holding a Rosh Hodesh service with a Torah scroll for the beginning of the Hebrew month of Adar.
The Western Wall Heritage Foundation, which administers the site according to traditional Orthodox standards, blocked the worshipers from entering the area with the Torah scrolls, pushing hundreds of liberal worshipers to the back of the plaza.
This was the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic that a large group of leaders from the Reform and Conservative movements from around the world joined in on the Rosh Hodesh (new moon) prayers at the Western Wall.
“Look into the eyes of the presidents of the Reform and Conservative movements who represent millions of Jews around the world, and tell them that they cannot enter the Western Wall and pray as usual,” Women of the Wall CEO Yochi Rappaport told Eden Shimon, deputy operations manager of the Kotel Plaza.
MK Gilad Kariv was able to enter the Western Wall Plaza holding a Torah scroll, since he is male, and is allowed to do so according to Jewish law.
“More than 1,000 Orthodox girls came from all over Jerusalem to the Rosh Hodesh prayer in reverence at the Western Wall Plaza, while a small group of about 40 women and men from the various movements arrived,” the Western Wall Heritage Foundation stated, calling for “removing disputes and demonstrations over the Western Wall plaza and leaving the place sacred and unifying.”
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 – the last remains of our Temple.”
Regarding the confrontations that took place at the site, World Zionist Organization deputy head Gael Greenwald has stated: “The Mizrachi Movement expresses deep sorrow at the confrontations this morning at the Kotel, and on Rosh Hodesh Adar, too, when we are supposed to increase our joy.
“We should try to solve the arguments around the Kotel through discussion based on our mutual covenant of fate and destiny,” he said. “We call upon the parties to conduct discussions with the same spirit of Ahavat Yisrael [love of Israel] that we are seeing right now in Ukraine.”
World Mizrachi executive chairman Rabbi Doron Perez made a follow-up statement, saying, “The Mizrachi was established and ever since has been advocating for a spirit of connectivity and partnerships within the Jewish people. Confrontations, demonstrations, arguments and divisiveness distance us from one another and do not advance the issues at hand.”