Israel to Allow Non-Orthodox, Mixed Men-Women Prayer at Western Wall

Under the plan approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet over objections from Orthodox members, an old archaeological site will be turned into a plaza where men and women can mix and pray freely.

It was celebrated as a major victory by progressive Jews, including Reform and Liberal Judaism in the United Kingdom, and by Masorti and Conservative Judaism in the USA, as well as by supporters of Women of the Wall, an Israeli pressure group which has spent years campaigning for women’s access to pray.

According to the proposal, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, the government would build a plaza for mixed gender prayer at the Western Wall, the holiest site at which Jews are allowed to pray.

Under the compromise, the non-Orthodox section will be doubled to approximately 10,000 square feet, equaling half the size of the Orthodox main section. While the Reform and Conservative denominations are the largest overseas they are a small minority in Israel and have little political clout.

“I said the most important point was that a big part and maybe a majority of American Jews identify themselves with the Reform and Conservative movements, and the fact that they can not pray near the wall with the same prayer that they do in their synagogues is viewed by them as the refusal of the State of Israel to recognize them as a legitimate part of the Jewish people”, he said.

Under the agreement, the government and quasi-governmental Jewish Agency will provide most of the $8.8 million budget over a two-year period.

The Western Wall is a remnant of the retaining wall of the mount on which the Holy Temples once stood, and is one of the most sacred sites in Judaism.

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. Not only is it a new section, but it’s a new section reserved for non-Orthodox Jews and mixed gender egalitarian prayer.

However, Israeli ultra-Orthodox parties denounced an “affront” to the traditions.

The new prayer area will be administered by an independent committee, removing it from the auspices of the Western Wall’s official religious custodian, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, who commented that he received the cabinet’s decision with a “heavy heart and a sigh of relief”.

“We had a vision 27 years ago that the holiest site of Jewish people needed to be run different, and today the government has taken a step toward it”, Hoffman said.

Jerry Silverman, president and CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, said he was “thrilled” with the agreement, also describing it as a historic departure for Israel.

The cabinet says its decision is based on the growing diversity…

“We will offer an option to all Israelis and Jews from around the world to express their Judaism”, she said. Bar and bat mitzvahs will also be able to take place in the new egalitarian space.

Women of the Wall spokeswoman Shira Pruce said the decision was a “revolution for women and Jewish pluralism in Israel”.