Women of the Wall
Reform rabbis will not stop working to build the Israel of our hopes and aspirations
By Hara Person — March 9, 2023
(RNS) — The Israel of today is complicated and can often be antithetical to the very Jewish values we hold dear. But that doesn’t mean we give up on Israel.
The saddest bar mitzvah in history
By Jeffrey Salkin — July 21, 2022
What happened recently at the Western Wall is an outrage. Orthodox leaders must speak out. Loudly.
US Jewish movements ‘outraged’ by Israeli PM’s decision to quash Western Wall deal
By Yonat Shimron — January 31, 2022
(RNS) — The prime minister said members of his right-wing Yamina Party opposed the plan, which would expand the current mixed-gender section of the Western Wall and create a joint management committee with leaders of the Conservative and Reform movements.
Future of prayer site in doubt under Israel’s fragile government
By Tia Goldenberg — January 4, 2022
JERUSALEM (AP) — A plan for an egalitarian prayer site at Jerusalem's Western Wall has been stymied as new government struggles with internal divisions.
The top 10 Jewish news stories of 2021
By A. James Rudin — December 28, 2021
(RNS) — Israeli politics and the continuing fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic dominated Jewish concerns this year.
Israeli police protect women’s prayer group from ultra-Orthodox protesters
By Michele Chabin — November 5, 2021
JERUSALEM (RNS) — Until now, Israeli security forces have done the bare minimum to enforce crowd control during the controversial prayer group’s once-a-month services in the women’s section of the Western Wall.
Netanyahu is not Israel
By Jeffrey Salkin — April 10, 2019
Yes, I am sad. I am disappointed. That is why I am doubling down on Israel.
Who let Jared and Ivanka fly on Shabbat?
By Jeffrey Salkin — May 22, 2017
(RNS) Letting Ivanka and Jared fly on Shabbat was bad Judaism. And bad for the Jews.
Orthodox high school girls bused to Western Wall to drown out feminist prayers
By Yonat Shimron — February 27, 2017
(RNS) Opposition to a government plan to turn a site at the Western Wall into an official, government-funded pluralistic prayer space is mounting.
Liberal rabbis stake out their ground at Western Wall
By Lauren Markoe — July 11, 2016
(RNS) In a letter to the prime minister, liberal Jewish leaders have signaled their frustration that the Western Wall deal has been swept aside.
Ultra-Orthodox Jews scuffle with worshippers at Western Wall
By Michele Chabin — June 16, 2016
(RNS) A dozen police officers stood by but did not intervene as the ultra-Orthodox men tried to drown out the Reform and Conservative service.
US Jewish groups warn of ‘rupture’ if Western Wall deal collapses
By Michele Chabin — June 2, 2016
JERUSALEM (RNS) “There is a deep concern, bordering on disbelief, that this deal may not be implemented,” said Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism.
Behind the scenes of the Western Wall deal: A negotiator’s view
By Lauren Markoe — February 9, 2016
(RNS) Progressive Jews didn't get all they wanted in the deal, but they still have reason to celebrate, says the rabbi who heads the synagogue arm of Conservative Judaism.
Why we will not negotiate our rights to pray at the Western Wall (COMMENTARY)
By Vanessa L. Ochs — February 5, 2016
(RNS) While some proclaim a deal to provide women an alternative prayer space near the Western Wall as a step toward religious and gender diversity in Israel, an American Jewish feminist says it's an act of betrayal.
Western Wall deal hailed by US Jewish groups
By Michele Chabin — February 1, 2016
JERUSALEM (RNS) Many Jews contested the status quo, in which prayer at the Wall followed only the strictest interpretation of Jewish law.
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