ד' לחודש האחד עשר תשע"ד
Arutz 7: Women of the Wall Upset as Torah Scroll Banned from Kotel
Controversial women’s prayer group allowed in to Kotel, but Torah scroll must remain outside.
Maayana Miskin, January 2, 2014
The controversial women’s prayer group Women of the Wall held its monthly Rosh Hodesh prayers at the Kotel (Western Wall) on Thursday in honor of the first day of the new Hebrew month.
The group brought roughly 200 worshipers - an unusually large number given the group's usual attendance of several dozen at best. While the group was allowed in to pray, the Torah scroll they had planned to use in their service was not allowed in.
The group’s insistence on holding public Torah readings led by women is part of what has led to conflict over its activities. Religious leaders at the site have argued that the public Torah readings, which are not customary in the women’s prayer section, are distracting to other worshipers.
According to Jewish tradition, women are exempt from the command to hold group prayers. The women’s section of the Kotel has traditionally been a place for individual prayer, while prayers with a quorum of ten men are held in the men’s section.
While Women of the Wall is pushing to change that tradition, many women have spoken out in favor of the status quo, and have publicly supported religious and political leaders in preserving “undisturbed traditional prayer” at the holy site.
More controversially, whilst most of their activities "merely" challenge traditional practices and customs, critics point out that their insistence on conducting services with a Torah scroll - including the Blessings over the Torah - directly contravene Jewish law (Halakha), and are therefore objectively inappropriate for the Kotel. According to Jewish law, such blessings can only be made by someone fulfilling a Torah obligation; since women are exempt from the obligation of reading from the Torah, reciting the relevant blessings is strictly forbidden.
Women of the Wall activists expressed frustration Thursday over the decision to prohibit their planned Torah reading. “We’re stuck. One the one hand, according to Judge Moshe Sobol, we’re legally allowed to pray with a Torah scroll. On the other hand, the Kotel Rabbi, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovich, prevents us from bringing our Torah scroll in,” charged director Leslie Sachs.
Rabbi Rabinovich also does not allow the group to use Torah scrolls from the men’s prayer section “which are meant for all worshipers,” she added.
Rabbi Rabinovich is openly critical of the group, which he has accused of deliberately provoking conflict and ignoring others’ sensitivities.
Government officials have stepped in to mediate the controversy over Women of the Wall, and are working to create an alternate prayer space where the group can hold its non-traditional prayers without causing a disruption. The group has already rejected an earlier attempt at a compromise which saw the government building an alternative prayer site dubbed "Ezrat Yisrael."
Members of the organization say that until their demands are met, they plan to continue using the women’s prayer section of the Kotel – and will keep trying to bring in a Torah scroll, as well.
Esser Agaroth (2¢):
The so-called WOW are not the problem, and they never have been. They are only pawns for the Torah-destroying oriented Powers That Be.
The key to this is mentioned here:
“We’re stuck. One the one hand, according to Judge Moshe Sobol, we’re legally allowed to pray with a Torah scroll. On the other hand, the Kotel Rabbi, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovich, prevents us from bringing our Torah scroll in.”
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| Israeli Supreme Court How many Illuminati symbols can you find in the photo? |
Although there are a handful of rabbis who have stood firm against the intervention of the secular courts in matters which have been in the hands of the Rabbinuth since the inception of the State: marriage, conversion and status, and burial. There have also been some rabbis who have stood firm on issues not traditionally allocated to the Rabbinuth, but Torah-based nonetheless, such as conquering the Land, and forbidding the relinquishing of any of it to goyim (non-Jews).
I am not just referring to the handing over of lands like the Sinai and Yamith, and Azza (Gaza), the authority of lands such as Yericho, and other parts of Yehudah and Shomron (Judea and Samaria), but also parcels under the radar being handed over to the Vatican and Russian Orthodox Church.
But, for the most part, I must say that the Israeli Chief Rabbinate has been very disappointing.
The secular courts are winning, having made great strides in sticking their noses into the issues of marriage, kashruth, and now more intricate halakhoth (laws).
more and more rabbis have become puppets, under the guise of "Jewish democracy," insisting that we "be patient," and "continue to love our fellow Jews," other such tripe, even if that Jew is a source of evil.
Decries of "democracy" only make things worse. What has Democracy to do with an authentically Jewish (ie. Torah) life and community? Nothing. So it should be no surprise to you that Israeli deMOCKracy makes me roll on the floor with laughter, until I wake up, and face the reality of how completely not funny our very sad situation and low spiritual state really are.
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| Naftali Bennett Jewish Home Party Chief and Cabinet Minister |
The Bennett plan has been a complete failure. The so-called "Women of the Wall do not like it. They want what they want, and are going to have a tantrum, and promote their Western/assimilationist (ie. un-Jewish), "progressive" values and sensibilities until the Rabbinuth caves in (again) or until the government finally comes up with another "compromise" which is really not a compromise, but another win for the secular courts and the Powers That Be.
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| "Religious Jews Fenced In" |
They get to pray where they want, but these women were forced to stand behind a police barricade and wait, for fear that they might "cause problems," such as upholding the Torah.
Some democracy.
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| These Hags know where they can go "pray," in tallesim. |
Soon, the Erev Rav, and their minyons will either wake up and teshuvah, or they will run away out of fear,...say to Europe, like a former Speaker of the K'nesseth has done.
But, personally, I prefer not to wait that long.
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