Jewish girls want to read from the Torah at the Western Wall, new bus ads proclaim
Women of the Wall launched on Oct. 12, 2014 a public bus ad campaign promoting bat mitzvahs at the Western Wall. The Orthodox body that runs activities at the wall says girls cannot read from the Torah, and therefore cannot have a bat mitzvah there. Photo courtesy of Women of the Wall
JERUSALEM (RNS) Bar mitzvah boys are encouraged to read from the Torah at the Western Wall, but the state-supported Western Wall Heritage Foundation, which is run by Israel’s Orthodox establishment, prohibits girls and women from doing so.