The Israeli government’s approval this week of a plan to construct an egalitarian section for prayer at the Kotel, Jerusalem’s Western Wall, is a welcome move toward fairness and Jewish unity.
This historic compromise comes after years of contentious protest led by Women of the Wall and its supporters, many of whom live in the Bay Area (a rabbinic group was founded by two Bay Area rabbis, as reported in this issue). They risked harassment, assault and arrest to demand the right to pray at the Kotel in their own way. The Orthodox monopoly that oversees the Kotel denied them this right, and at times dismissed the protesters as apostates.
In the end, reason prevailed. Negotiators representing the government, Women of the Wall, the Reform and Conservative movements, the Jewish Agency for Israel and, most significantly, ultra-Orthodox leaders, hammered out the agreement. Everyone gave a little, and compromise was reached.
In brief, a greatly expanded egalitarian section for prayer now will be contiguous with the main section of the Kotel and plaza.
We are exhilarated by this development and see it as heralding a new era. Once construction is complete, we truly will have one Kotel for one people.
It would be naive, however, to paint too rosy a picture. Some supporters are disappointed by the “separate but equal” nature of the compromise; they wanted full equality at the existing Orthodox section.
On the other side, some cranks in the Knesset and committee functionaries have complained bitterly, with one calling Reform Jews “clowns” and another urging that Women of the Wall supporters be “thrown to the dogs.” Needless to say, this is unacceptable hate speech and we condemn it. But it may portend a rougher road to the new egalitarian section than we think.
Rough road or not, this momentous agreement is one more step toward what must become full equality for all streams of Judaism in Israel. It is absurd that liberal Jews are still not able to practice Judaism as they wish in the state that was created to provide a space for the full flowering of our faith and national expression.
Nevertheless, today is a time to celebrate a great victory. Those involved in Women of the Wall have shown remarkable grace under pressure all these years, and they deserve a victory lap and our thanks for leading the way.