Jerusalem – After Clashes over WoW, Western Wall Rabbi Said I Am Hurting And Crying

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    Israeli police scuffle with an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man on the plaza of the Western Wall in Jerusalem, 10 May 2013, as a reform group of Jewish women calling themselves the Women of the Wall held a morning prayer session nearby, complete with prayer shawls, yarmulkes and singing. EPA/JIM HOLLANDERJerusalem – In an exclusive interview with The Jerusalem Post in the wake of the Friday morning protest against the Women of the Wall worshipers at the Kotel (Western Wall), the Rabbi of the site Shmuel Rabinowitz said WoW was a small group that is trying to bring about discord and force their opinions on others and he begged them to stop their activities.

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    Protests at the Western Wall in Jerusalem opposing the Women of the Wall prayer group ended on Friday morning with the arrest of three haredi men suspected of disturbing the peace, as well as two police officers who suffered light injuries and were treated at the scene. A large number of security forces were at the holy site, attempting to create a human barrier between the men and women’s sections.

    Haredi protesters threw water bottles and other objects and shouted insults at the Women of the Wall activists, according to Israel Radio.

    “I am hurting. Hurting and crying over what happened here today. It wasn’t for this Kotel that we prayed. We don’t want a kotel of disagreement,” Rabinowitz told the Post.

    The protesters on Friday shouted and spat at the Women of the Wall activists as they were conducting their first monthly service without restrictions after a court ruling two weeks ago reinterpreted existing laws and allowed them to be able to perform their own customs, such as wearing prayer shawls and tefillin, without fear of being arrested.

    Rabinowitz said that there was a place at the Western Wall for every Jew but that he was not sure there was a place for every opinion adding that the Wall did not belong to any movement in Judaism and therefore the “custom that exists today at the Kotel is the right compromise…and needs to continue as is.”

    The Rabbi threw his support behind a past understanding that WOW be allowed to pray at Robinson’s Arch which WOW rejected in the past.

    Content is provided courtesy of the Jerusalem Post


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    29 Comments
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    10 years ago

    Women of the Wall deserve a special place in history. Right up there with Stalin and the Jesuits.

    10 years ago

    Unfortunate. Is a wall really worth resorting to violence?

    Barryfrombrooklyn
    Barryfrombrooklyn
    10 years ago

    Did I read that quote correctly?
    “the Rabbi of the site Shmuel Rabinowitz said WoW was a small group that is trying to bring about discord and force their opinions on others and he begged them to stop their activities.”
    Hello?!? Did you just say that? Seriously?
    Are you considering women praying the way they choose to at the Kotel “forcing their opinion on others”?!
    The guys spitting and throwing bottles would fit that category, NO?
    Thankfully, Israel is a land of laws. Citizens should respect those laws and you as a Rabbi and leader should condemn the radicals and extremists that “are bringing about discord and trying to force THEIR beliefs upon others”. Thank you!

    Geulah
    Geulah
    10 years ago

    They sent the women and girls to the wall to daven and say tehillim while the Hoffman’s of the world (Abby Hoffman’s spiritual and ideological offspring) did their thing. Who sent the men? Why did they mish with the girls? Why didn’t they mind their own business and daven themselves? Time to ban asifah’s, kol korehs, and remind ourselves that jerks aren’t the product of the Internet.

    10 years ago

    Its about time the police dragged off these chareidi thugs who have been disrupting the efforts of these women to daven in ways they disagree with. No one is telling them to send their wives and daughters to join the Women of the Wall. My own preference is for the traditional forms of davening but I have zero tolerance for these Chareidim who will seek to impose their will by violent behavior. The belong in jail and the pain on the face of the guy in the photo being dragged away by his tallis katan by the police is a good sign that the police are doing their job. As to Rabinowitz, he should be replaced by someone who can moderate between the two side and establish some informal guidelines in accordance with the court ruling that everyone can daven in accordance with their own minhagim. If I remember correctly, Rabinowitz was the genius who tried to tell the former pope on his visit to he kosel, not to bring his tzelem until he was told to shut-up by both the foreign affairs and religious ministries. Its time for some new leadership in one of the most complex jobs in EY and Rabinowitz has shown he is fundamentally unfit for the job.

    Aryeh
    Aryeh
    10 years ago

    Wow! Erev Rav is truly in every generation.

    10 years ago

    No Shmuel, you have it exactly wrong. It’s you and your fellow knuckle-dragging Hasidim who rioted and pillaged at a site which is holy to all Jews regardless of their degree of religiousity, who are bringing discord amongst Jews, and opprobrium from the rest of the world, Jew and Gentile alike.

    This time, the whole world was indeed watching.

    DSarna
    DSarna
    10 years ago

    This is a very wrong article. Historically, the Kotel was no gender-separated. Making this a huge issue now is just horrible, dirty politics. This is NOT a religious matter.

    Barryfrombrooklyn
    Barryfrombrooklyn
    10 years ago

    #shatteredhopes
    The morning after the Asifa and still so many ignorant comments.
    Why are all of you ignorant sheep still on the Internet?

    BuckyinWisconsin
    BuckyinWisconsin
    10 years ago

    The WOW are deliberately provocative, and want to see rioting etc. wherever they appear. Honestly, it would be a lot better just to ignore them. They come mostly from the skewed variations of Judaism such as Reform and Conservative, and have a background in liberal activism. They can be very effective and know what they are doing to compel “change.” Haredi rioting” plays perfectly in to their plans. The best response is to ignore them completely. My only point is, if a group of teenokot she neishbot gather at the Kosel, they are not threats to a halachic lifestyle. Is it jarring to see them, are they confused, a bit twisted and very provocative? Yes. Should they be allowed to do what they are doing in the holiest place of am Yisrael at the moment…of course not. But, as someone mentioned, for better or worse, the law is on their side, as the powers that be in Israel always favor the liberal view.

    SandmanNY
    SandmanNY
    10 years ago

    In behavior modification, you ignore certain behaviors so as not to reinforce them. By giving them attention, you strengthen them. Ignoring these women can lead to extinction of the behavior. Furthermore, if they are gathering at the Kosel to pray, they are interested in learning more about Yiddishkeit. So – regard them as tinokos sh’nishbu and make them a focal point of kiruv. These women are a gift from Shomayim to see what we will do. K’vod ha’briyos, Rabbosai.

    SarahJ
    SarahJ
    10 years ago

    Only will you idiots consider a woman praying at a wall to be worse than a man throwing rocks at her..

    Passaicguy
    Passaicguy
    10 years ago

    This Rabbi is crying? Hes part of the problem! The WOW should have just been left alone and they would have fizzled out. All the attention he directed their way is what caused this tragedy. We now look no different than a mob of raving lunatic arabs.

    stamm
    stamm
    10 years ago

    these secular israeilis respect the arabs to no end. we can’t go to maaras hamachpeila whenever we want bec. now it is for the arabs etc. so why can’t they ensure to respect some decorum when it comes to the kotel or to the frum? These WoW are definitely looking for attention , if they wanted to get closer to Hashem there are many alternate ways to accomplish that.

    TzviB
    TzviB
    10 years ago

    Can you imagine Hashem’s emotions as He looks out and sees his children’s behavior at His front door?

    shameshameshame
    shameshameshame
    10 years ago

    When the arab community is protesting an issue, we always see images of their youth yelling, ranting, throwing…. and I always say to myself…. ‘בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’ אֱלהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעולָם. שֶׁלּא עָשנִי גּוי’. And then I add…. ‘look at these vultures’…. We are better than that. We should know better. There are ways to show support emitting a Kidush Hashem. I was truly embarrassed watching the news of this event.

    Some of the men and yeshiva students need to be more concerned about their own actions FIRST. A true yid with sincere ahavas torah and yiraas shomayim would never have shoved, spit, or shown any aggressive behavior. This was a tremendous Chilul Hashem…. the media and population is spewing all sort of negative statements about ‘jews’.

    LebidikYankel
    LebidikYankel
    10 years ago

    My daughter was there. They were praying peacefully when the WOW arrived and thought they ought to be given precedence over others. The police graciously accommodated them by shoving everyone to the side so that the women with tfillin, accompanied by their husbands without tfillin, can get in to the front and make a ruckus. As the circus progressed the women began singing loudly so that the men should hear them. Some men took offence, I cannot say why.
    Misinformation + misinterpretation = Jerusalem Post