Jerusalem – In Photos-Video: Jewish Women Activists In Confrontation At Western Wall

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    A Jewish orthodox women follows a prayer organized by the "Women of the Wall" organization, not pictured, at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray in Jerusalem's old city, Friday, May 10, 2013. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)Jerusalem – Israeli police held back thousands of ultra-conservative Jews who tried to drive liberal women worshippers from Judaism’s sacred Western Wall on Friday, marking a shift in the authorities’ handling of a long-running religious schism.

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    Ultra-Orthodox protesters dressed in traditional dark clothing threw chairs and water at the women, then later stoned their buses. Two policemen were hurt.

    Friday’s prayers were the first in weeks in which police avoided any showdown with Women of the Wall, whose members have been detained in the past and charged with disruption for violating Orthodox traditions at a holysite. They are seeking a greater role in prayer ritual.

    “I’m seeing signs of progress,” one woman worshipper, Lisa Kainan, said about the police presence at the site.

    {NewsPhotosEmbed 747799013}


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    91 Comments
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    ExpatriateOwl
    ExpatriateOwl
    10 years ago

    “Ultra-conservative?”

    I_think
    I_think
    10 years ago

    why do good frum girls need to be exposed to such trash they would be better off in school learning, and if the buchrim want to know how to help they should do what the Gemara says “Hashkem …. L’Bais HaMedresh…..” learn, Give Tzdaka, and be MeKarev the unlearned thru Ahavas Yisroel. and to the Rabbanim if they would get out off politics and think about “ERETZ YISROEL” it would also help.

    10 years ago

    I can understand why the Gedolim allowed the Heimishe girls to go there and make such fools of themselves. We all came away from there, looking like frustrated angry fighters.

    10 years ago

    Sounds like the WOW group Stole their name from a radio show.

    ALTERG
    ALTERG
    10 years ago

    & isreal govermen are sticking for this few women of the guyim???? Let them move to india, isreal is the hardess way to observe mitzvos or lerning torah

    10 years ago

    Correct me if I am wrong…….but aren’t even goyim allowed to come to the beis hamikdash to bring korbanos?? Doesn’t the pasuk say somethibg like ‘ki beisi beis tefilla yikareh lechol ha’amim’?????

    VeyIzMir
    VeyIzMir
    10 years ago

    WoW = Women Off The Wall!

    Q: What do you call these women who pray with Tallit and Tefillin at the Kotel?

    A: Wallnuts!

    Yisroel
    Yisroel
    10 years ago

    This protest is the right thing to do. The police were not wearing helmets which shows that the protest was non-violent. These women (WOW) have no right to dictate Jewish law. Judaism is the word of G-d and is not liberalism or democracy. Millions of Jews sacrificed their lives throughout the millennia to preserve the Torah. These women have no right to desecrate this holy sight, to defy the Torah, and disgrace the holy sacrifices made by our ancestors. If they have problems with Judaism then they should go to their local reform temple and do their thing but don’t impose their impurity upon those who want to follow the Torah. This is truly mil-chem-as Hashem. Kol Hakovod to the protesters!

    shlomogabai
    shlomogabai
    10 years ago

    Disgusting farshtinkineh israel! Satmar rebbe was correct (i finally realize) about not going to the kotel, about not voting, about sounding the alarm on the israeli govt. Yes they do hate the jewish religion! They dont mind the jewish identity. That makes them dangerous! For the sake of “freedom” for a few they are ready to trample on the jewish religion! Now enough with the hatefull b”s here on vin. If you hate your religion dont represent it! Write your affiliation and observance before writing how bad the torah is! Reformers, christians, welcome to post but only in your religions identity. Ive had enough of being shamed and rediculed at every opportunity just because many vin pisters i meant posters try at every opportunity to drive me under covers!

    Perhaps vin should change win. At least be genuine at your intentions.

    Listen bros. Im done hiding under the blankets due to your hate of my religion (proven by not missing any opportunity to bash anything even remotely connected to it.

    Now my frustration boiled over because of “freedom of religion” rather than “religious freedom” which vin professes as well, (no pro religious articles even by mistake) and which commentators constantly do. (i think even my non haredi bros agree, if not in denial)

    Whew do i feel better now!

    chosid
    chosid
    10 years ago

    What purpose did this confrontation serve? These jokers are obviously not sincere, why bring them attention?

    joeynathan
    joeynathan
    10 years ago

    i wonder what parents are saying about there boys who should be learning and instead are protesting

    bewhiskered
    bewhiskered
    10 years ago

    “Ultra-Orthodox protesters dressed in traditional dark clothing threw chairs and water at the women, then later stoned their buses. Two policemen were hurt.”

    Yes, of course, it was the usual חילול שם שמים בפני עם ועדה! What else could anyone expect? Pathetic!

    10 years ago

    As I don’t agree about women wearing tallits, tefflins etc.. but there is

    10 years ago

    I don’t agree with women wearing tefflin and tallits, i just leave them alone. There is NO EXCUSE

    10 years ago

    those men need to grow up and leave them alone. are they trying to force them to leave Judaism by their behavior. ill make sure that none of my daughters marrying those men of their own kind of observance. So embarrassing! If i was asked, i would say embarrassing!

    10 years ago

    we are such a torn ppl omg

    Butterfly
    Butterfly
    10 years ago

    Why are the “religious” men throwing things? Aren’t they supposed to be davening? Should the men have ignored them instead? ………

    tehillim_119_72
    tehillim_119_72
    10 years ago

    If you see the video you’ll see that one of the woman literally wore the tephillin over her eyes.

    Since these woman want to destroy the mechitza from the kosel Rav Yoshe Ber would hold their trying to place a church there.

    ikl222
    ikl222
    10 years ago

    What these women are doing, I agree its offensive and disgraceful. They are doing it because they want to push our buttons and make a mockery out of our culture. I do not understand how something like this can happen, but the world has become a very sensitive place and everyone thinks they can express themselves how they want. BUT at the same time this protesting and chilul hashem is NOT who we are as a people and a nation. We are Klal Yisroel, we DO NOT throw rocks at buses or throw chairs at other people, for we are not as every other nation in this world. Take pride and respect who we are. Learn torah, Do mitzvahs, and MOST importantly the only reason why this world was created is AHAVAS YISROEL. If we do all three, this would and will not happen.

    maxedout
    maxedout
    10 years ago

    “Ultra-Orthodox protesters dressed in traditional dark clothing threw chairs and water at the women, then later stoned their buses.”

    This is yiddishkeit? While the WOWs are wrong, this is even worse.

    sheepheadsbayyid
    sheepheadsbayyid
    10 years ago

    so upset about the wow but not willing to lift a finger to protect the kotel from Arabs If you do not want to protect it then you have no right to dictate who should go there

    NotSoFrum
    NotSoFrum
    10 years ago

    I think this violence at the Kotel between Jews is just awful. The Kotel should be open to all Jews. If these women want to daven on the women’s side, why should they not be allowed to daven? Whether we like it or not, these women are Jews and we should stop calling them something other than Jews. They may be doing things and observing practices that don’t look Jewish to us, but they are Jews nonetheless (by blood). If they jumped back on the derech (however that might be defined), there would be and should be no question as to their Jewishness. Let’s stop the hate. You may not agree with what they are doing, but they can talk to Hashem too. So keep your eyes focused on the men’s side of the mechitza and you’ll have no problem. Should you be looking at and inspecting women anyway?

    10 years ago

    These WOW feminist she-males do not belong at the Kotel. The WOW freaks of nature belong on a psychiatrist’s couch where they can be analyzed and studied as bizarre mutations lacking any gender identity.

    10 years ago

    Do the woman of off the wall daven every day of the week with tallis and tefellin?
    Bet they don’t.

    10 years ago

    The Torah always tried to Accomodate Women and Men in special situations. Today’s women are not homebound with laundry and cooking as they were in the times of the Torah. Therfore the Torah would have surely accomodated us by including us women in all Mitzvohs.
    Typical example is Bnos Tzelofchod, Moshe didn’t just dimiss them, he went to ask God, and God said, ‘Sure will just bend the rules a little bit to accomodate them’. Same is with the Bnei Yosef, and the people who were Tomei for the Korbon Pesach, so they got a Pesach Sheni.

    dave11
    dave11
    10 years ago

    The thing is that most of these women of the wall are just strange, i think its like with any of these wackos the more attention you give them the more they grow.

    Ignore them (obviously not saying not to do anything at all rather just quiet effective actions rather than loud protests)and they disappear.

    Facts1
    Facts1
    10 years ago

    Religion is not a democracy, this is exactly the kind of thing the “חשמונאים” fought. Yes they armed and fought hard against any attempt from anyone to interject into their religion or their holy places. It’s one thing when they do their thing in any country, but in Israel at the western wall.

    On a practical note!
    These troubled WOW need to be barred, they are creating havoc and playing with the sensitive feelings of the majority of people visiting the Kotel, they have no origin, they are a cult.

    posaikacharon
    posaikacharon
    10 years ago

    “WOW” is the trademark of video games called World Of Warfare. Just pointing out that their agenda is identical.

    Speaksoftly
    Speaksoftly
    10 years ago

    69 years ago today, my mother stepped off the train having arrived in Auschwitz. On that train had been members of her family, neighbors and strangers. There were no separations in that cattle car by religious categories – they were all Jews. Most of them,she would never see again.
    After 2000 years of Golus and persecution, have we not yet learned that our hearts, minds and behavior must be kodush and exemplary. No one was ever convinced about the error of their ways by spittle or rocks. Teaching with a loving example is all that truly impresses and changes behavior.
    To counter inroads posed by groups such as WOW, our children must be taught to respond with true Torah knowledge and exemplary middos. Eretz Yisroel and Am Yisroel are waiting to be conquered by the one force that has not yet reappeared for over two millenia – true Ahavas Yisroel

    ayoyo
    ayoyo
    10 years ago

    I just came back from the holy land.I have never seen so many frum men in the streets of Jerusalem in the middle of the day.Not learning or working
    How can the Gedolim tell their people to protest, when we know that in the BEIS HAMIKDOSH area there was place for all types of Jews

    hashomer
    hashomer
    10 years ago

    The comments by so many of the anti-WOW crowd are so hateful, so bigoted and backward. Do they so hate their wives & daughters too? These women want to daven, get close to HaShem. They don’t spit, insult or throw rocks. They are on a true derech, like so many of our ancestors…

    RealJew
    RealJew
    10 years ago

    The police should protect JEWS praying on Har Habayit the same way.
    BTW Rashis daughters wore tefillin. If WOW came onto the mens side I can see that as a problem, but all these people getting so excited displayes a lack of true connection with Hashem. If they were good and secure with there Avodas Hashem and Yiras Shomayim they would just ignore the WOW and let them do what they want. This obviously threatens their FAKE version of Jewdaisim.

    shmaltz222
    shmaltz222
    10 years ago

    i think sensitivity on both sides would be appropriate. The chareidim would be better off ignoring them and making soft spoken requests (it would likely peter out anyway if there was no opposition) and the other side should respect the sensitivities of the chareidim (like they would a muslim area) and minimize the offense

    another clever option is to send holy chassidish women Tehilim zugers to join in and show them how davening is done!! (ha!!)

    shameshameshame
    shameshameshame
    10 years ago

    3 comments:

    Wonder how these WOW’s pick and choose which mitzvah to be passionate about and which mitzvah to violate. These women are not only reformed jews but some are even on a lower level… reconstructions.. They are so worried about their prayers, but yet do not believe in giving their newborn sons a bris.

    Although violence should never be the way to express our views, I absolutely agree with showing support by showing up in vast numbers. We must protect the purity of the kotel as best as we can. BUT, with respect, calmness and prayer. It is very disappointing to see some of the orthodox mens’ behavior. Wouldn’t it have been more effective for all the protesters to say tehilim in unity. Throwing, spitting…. Who is guiding these young men? To the secular world, they don’t act much different than the arab clan rock throwers. Huge chilul hasem.

    Last, You can actually see the smirk on some of these wow faces. This is a game to most of them. These women have their own set of rules. They pick and choose which mitzvah to follow and decide on their own which commandments to abolish. We must learn to ignore these groups just as we ignore ‘jews for jes_s’

    jpeditor
    jpeditor
    10 years ago

    These women somehow can’t pray unless they are mimicking the prayers & prayer attire of the men they are so disgusted with.

    These Left-wing, extremist, anti-orthodox Jewish women support the Muslims in their desire to cut Israel & Jerusalem in half for an oh-so-badly NOT-NEEDED new jihad state.

    90% of the so-called “women of the wall” are far Leftists who condemn “settlements” (that are on l& that was Jewish for over a thous& years before the nightmare of islam started), & who have also been & are still trying to help create jihadi-flavored “palestine”, even when the leaders of the PA recently declared that not only do they stand by the muslim killers who stab & kill Jewish civilians, but that if they had nuclear weapons they would already have used them on Israel.

    The “women of the wall” are nothing but far-Left surrenderists & accommodators of jihadi terror against Israel, & likely against Americans.

    I am sure if you polled them a majority of them (like those who support them) would “understand” the Boston bombers.

    With “prayers” like theirs, who needs “radical islam”?

    10 years ago

    Do you see the red head in the picture above, with the caption, “A Jewish orthodox women (sic) follows a prayer organized by the “Women of the Wall” organization”? Well, my daughter is friends with that teenage seminary girl. The girl is decidedly *not* “following a prayer” organized by that organization.