Egalitarian prayer section at the Western Wall

Rabbi warns proposed Kotel bill could criminalize egalitarian prayer

Thirteen years ago, on the morning of Rosh Chodesh Adar, Rabbi Elyse Goldstein was detained at the Kotel after joining a group praying with Women of the Wall in the women’s section.

|ByJTA/ RABBI ROBYN FRYER BODZIN
Rabbi Robin Fryer Bodzin stands in front of the Western Wall in Jerusalem.
Ultra-orthodox Jewish men talk on the phone in front of the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City on December 4, 2025.

Should control of the Western Wall be delegated to one sect of Judaism over another? - editorial

With already strained Jewish unity, a recent Knesset vote sends a message that Israel is prepared to legislate one stream of Judaism’s authority over a site that carries meaning for all.

|ByJPOST EDITORIAL
A Jewish woman covered in a white prayer shawl prays in front of the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City, during the Jewish holiday of Passover, April 2, 2018

Israel must advance permits for egalitarian Western Wall plaza, High Court orders

The ruling followed a hearing earlier last week, during which justices pressed state and municipal representatives over why worshippers at the egalitarian section still cannot reach the Wall.

|BySARAH BEN-NUN
Members of the Women of the Wall, Conservative and Reform Movement hold Rosh Hodesh prayer at the Western Wall in Jerusalem Old City, March 4, 2022.

Western Wall compromise: Israel's High Court to hold hearing

This is the first hearing taking place on the issue in the past two years and the first during this government. 

|ByZVIKA KLEIN

Progressive Jewish leaders blast 'mixed-sex space' at Kotel, call for real solution

The rift over the future of the egalitarian prayer section at the Western Wall continues to deepen.

OCTOBER 30, 2017ByTAMARA ZIEVE
Birkat Kohanim at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

‘Mechitza’ (separation) at the Western Wall – and the unity of Israel

The rabbis and leaders of the Jewish Theological Seminary prayed separately until the 1980s, as also did most Reform Jews in Europe before the Holocaust.

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017ByEINAT RAMON
Women reading selichot -- Jewish penitential poems and prayers said leading up to the High Holidays -- at the Western Wall before Rosh Hashana

High Court to government: Frozen Western Wall plan 'can be thawed'

Judges indicated they strongly favor the implementation of the now-frozen 2016 government resolution to create a state-recognized egalitarian section at the southern end of the holy site.

AUGUST 31, 2017ByJEREMY SHARON
Members of "Women of the Wall" pray with a Torah scroll during a monthly prayer near the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City July 24, 2017

Last Licks

AUGUST 26, 2017ByBONNIE RIVA RAS
The Jerusalem Post

The wall between us: Egalitarian prayer at the Western Wall

A personal view on a controversial subject.

AUGUST 13, 2017ByJAMIE HALPER
Jamie Halper raises the Torah with Women of the Wall on July 24, 2017.

Western Wall must not become symbol of Jewish divisiveness, says Rivlin

Differences set aside in search for common values at annual Tisha Be’av study session.

JULY 31, 2017ByGREER FAY CASHMAN
The Western Wall in Jerusalem

Israeli gov't opposes court-ordered egalitarian section at Western Wall

Progressive groups petitioned the court to handle government accountability regarding the egalitarian prayer space at the Western Wall.

JULY 18, 2017ByJEREMY SHARON
Reform Jews pray at new Western Wall egalitarian section

How the Western Wall deal fell apart

From the Women of the Wall to the latest Kotel controversy.

JULY 15, 2017ByHERB KEINON
The Western Wall Plaza in Jerusalem