Despite a victorious court ruling, women are still second-class citizens at the Western Wall

Women of the Wall
Rosh Chodesh prayer services took place on July 19, 2023, at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, including this bat mitzvah ceremony held by the Women of the Wall human rights group. They have been fighting for nearly 35 years for more egalitarian prayer services to be permitted at the holiest site in Judaism, but local authorities still bar them from using a Torah Scroll or singing the prayers out loud. (Photo by Idit Wagner)

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There were whistles and angry shouts of “Go back to New York” and “Get lost” on July 19 at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, as a group of observant Jewish women known as Women of the Wall conducted their monthly morning prayer service—complete with a small Torah scroll they’d smuggled in with them. Using the scroll is against the rules set down by the holy site’s authorities, which still only permits men to have the sacred scrolls or to chant prayers out loud.

And as has happened for years, the women had to run a gauntlet of security forces who searched them for religious items. They also had to endure noisy insults and even physical attacks from Haredi men and women who oppose the women’s non-Orthodox methods of praying at the Kotel. Some threw red juice at the women’s prayer shawls.

The Israeli courts have just handed a legal victory of sorts to the women, thanks to a ruling by a Jerusalem judge that says they can no longer be subjected to invasive special searches of their bags and purses for religious articles. However, the ruling stopped short of legalizing their requests to use Torahs.

On this Tisha b’Av episode of The CJN Daily, producer Zac Kauffman took his recording gear into the crowd to bring us this special on-the-ground report. He talks to the women involved in the service, and to some protesters, including one with Canadian roots, who came to drown them out.

What we talked about

  • Learn more about the Canadian woman with the Women of the Wall, Rachel Cohen Yeshurun, working to expand egalitarian prayer services at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, on The CJN Daily.
  • Read when Israel’s government proposed to expand prayers for non-Orthodox at the Kotel, in 2017, in The CJN.
  • Anat Hoffman, founder of Women of the Wall, bringing social change to Israel, in The CJN.

 Credits

The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Zachary Kauffman is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our intern is Ashok Lamichhane (@jesterschest on Twitter).Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. We’re a member of The CJN Podcast Network. To subscribe to this podcast, please watch this video. Donate to The CJN and receive a charitable tax receipt by clicking here.