Israel Approves Prayer Site for Non-Orthodox Jews at Western Wall

In a joint statement, the Jewish Federations of North America and Reform and Conservative movements said in a new statement that the new space is a critical, dramatic and unprecedented acknowledgment by Israel that the holy site must incorporate traditions of both Reform and Masorti or Conservative streams where both sexes pray together.

Traditionally, only Orthodox Jews are allowed to pray at the Western Wall – and men and women are kept separate. Shortly after, a temporary prayer platform was erected for mixed-gender prayer, but advocates say it was not an official site and was not always open.

The Western Wall, known as the Kotel in Hebrew, is one of the holiest sites in Judaism because it is the closest site at which Jews can pray to where they believe the Jewish Temple stood 2,000 years ago.

The matter has sparked great interest in the USA, where the liberal Jewish movements are dominant.

Women of the Wall has campaigned for equal prayer rights at the Western Wall for the past 27 years, holding monthly protests in the plaza in front of the wall’s ancient golden stones.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) on Monday said that the newly announced co-ed section of the Western Wall prayer area is a violation of the status quo, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported.

Following the Cabinet vote, Moshe Gafni, a leading ultra-Orthodox lawmaker, called Reform Jews “clowns” and said he would never recognize them.

Anat Hoffman, a founding member of the group, called it a “historic day”.

Israeli women of the Women of the Wall organization praying just outside the Western Wall, in Jerusalem’s Old City, Dec. 14, 2012. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed the plan in an attempt to please American Jews, a key source of support for Israel, despite stiff opposition by ultra-Orthodox and religious nationalist elements in Israel who are key members of his own government.

Shlomo Amar, the Sephardic chief rabbi of Jerusalem, said those Jewish groups knew nothing about the Torah, prayer, or Judaism, and that their leaders desecrate the Sabbath and eat non-kosher food.

After a year-long debate, the Israel cabinet voted to establish a section of the Western Wall, originally a wall of King Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem, for mixed prayers.

The new rules will put the egalitarian area under control of a new group. It “gives standing to the Reform”.

Shmuel Rabinowitz, an ultra-Orthodox Rabbi managing the Western Wall, stated that ever since the Women of the Wall started their mass media activity, there has been an incessant dispute in the Western Wall where it should be a place for peace and faith. Sharansky and outgoing Israeli Cabinet secretary Avichai Mandelblit led the negotiations, which included representatives of the Reform and Conservative movements, the Heritage Foundation and Women of the Wall.