Rabbis Rice: The Kotel is Holy for all Jews

This week four women were detained at the Western Wall for wearing tallitot (prayershawls). The authorities say they were disturbing the public peace and the punishment for this crime is six months in prison. They were also charged with breaking the law by performing a religious act that "offends the feelings of others." The punishment for this crime is up to two years in prison. When these four women wore their tallitot they challenged the division at the Western Wall. This is a place where men pray, dance, sing, read Torah, celebrate b'nai mitzvah, and express their Judaism in any way they wish. Women, on the other side of the partition, stand silently in the little space that remains.

The Israeli Religious Action Center fights all layers of gender segregation in Israel, and the Kotel is ground-zero in the fight against gender exclusion. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. taught us, one of the main strategies of non-violent struggle is to "dramatize" the injustice. There is a real need for drama to actualize how far the situation of women in the public sphere in Israel today is from the dream of the State's founders. Israel's founding document, our Declaration of Independence, had a vision of full equality for all the citizens of Israel irrespective of religion, race, or gender. According to that vision, Reform Jews in Israel are working to create a reality that is currently hard for Israelis to even imagine: a Kotel where Israeli families will be able to pray together as a family.

The key to changing the status quo is in the hands of the authorities that run the Kotel, the Western Wall Heritage Foundation. This is why IRAC and the IMPJ are about to go to Israel's Supreme Court to demand a change in the make-up of the Western Wall Heritage Council, which is currently made up completely of Orthodox Jews. We want this body to resemble the real diversity of the Jewish people in Israel and the Diaspora. And here is where you can help by adding your name to all of the already collected signatures. With that kind of support, the Israeli Government will see that we cannot be ignored -- sign the petition.