jerusalem | The ongoing debate over freedom of worship at the Kotel, Jerusalem’s Western Wall, is complicated by fundamental differences between Israeli and diaspora Jews, as well as by gender issues that extend to the rest of Israeli society. And while the Kotel prayer problem is nearing a solution of sorts, the wider rifts it uncovered are not going away anytime soon.
That was the consensus reached at a Dec. 5 panel discussion at the Jewish Media Summit in Jerusalem, a four-day conference organized by the Israeli government that brought together some 50 editors of Jewish publications from around the world to discuss issues ranging from religious pluralism in the Jewish state to the impact of the U.S. presidential election on the Middle East.
At this session, panelists agreed on the need to implement the compromise agreement on the Kotel reached months ago, which would create an egalitarian worship space adjacent to the main public plaza. Although the ultra-Orthodox haredi parties signed the agreement, it is now being held up by those same signatories, and liberal Israeli as well as diaspora Jews are chafing at the delay.
“It’s an outrage that it hasn’t been implemented,” said Rabbi Na’ama Kelman, dean of the Hebrew Union College-Jerusalem and a longtime activist for Reform Judaism in Israel.
Still, Kelman acknowledged that for most Israelis, this battle that is so important to liberal American Jews is a nonissue, something they don’t care about in the least.
“When Israelis think of the Wall they think of the paratroopers liberating it,” she said. “Diaspora Jews see it as a religious symbol, not a symbol of national liberation. And freedom of religion is so basic to Americans they can’t understand not being able to pray the way they want, wherever they want.”
Meanwhile, Women of the Wall continues its monthly services, where members bring Torah scrolls to the Kotel and are routinely insulted and attacked by furious ultra-Orthodox worshippers. Their decades-long struggle to worship as they please at Judaism’s holiest site uncovers gender inequalities that extend far beyond the Wall, the panelists agreed.
“Mikvahs, women in the Knesset, women in public spaces, women in the kosher food industry, the problem of agunot — it’s not just about letting women pray as they want to at the Kotel,” said Tali Farkash, religion columnist at Ynet news.
“The Kotel issue is a litmus test for relations between Israel and the diaspora, and between Jewish streams within Israel,” added Knesset member Aliza Lavie of the centrist Yesh Atid party. “The Kotel should be a place for everyone, it’s where we pray, where we talk to the Creator. We need to work together to find common ground.”
Trying to explain to their visitors that Israelis don’t understand the fuss American Jews make over prayer customs at the Kotel, the panelists said that’s a symptom of the two communities’ lack of knowledge about each other.
More to the point, it speaks to an asymmetry in the diaspora-Israeli relationship. While Israelis are, as a group, interested in the United States, they are profoundly disinterested in American Jewish life.
“If there were a conference of Israeli journalists interested in diaspora Jewish life, you wouldn’t be able to fill even one table,” said Daniel Goldman, the chairman of Gesher, an organization that promotes understanding between religious and secular Jews in Israel. “Israelis rarely think about diaspora Jews unless there’s a terror attack, while diaspora Jews often think about Israel. There’s a huge asymmetry.”
J. Editor Sue Fishkoff was the guest of Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Government Press Office at the 2016 Jewish Media Summit Dec. 4-7 in Jerusalem.