Dear Friends,

Years ago I was at the wall as part of a delegation of women and men trying to pray together in the outer plaza area near the Wall in Jerusalem.  We were derided and screamed at by orthodox zealots.  It was ugly and nearly turned violent.

Furthermore, there has been a feud for decades between “Women at the Wall” and the Orthodox establishment at the Western Wall.  Women have wished to pray as a group, in the women’s section, and each time they try they are arrested for doing so.  They get arrested for carrying a Torah, wearing a Tallit, wearing Tefillin, and for praying out loud. The Orthodox monopoly is stifling.  It’s our Wall too!

The Reform movement as well as the other liberal movements have been pushing hard for women to have rights at the Wall, and finally, progress was achieved.  It will take a while to implement, but a third plaza section will be constructed along the Wall.  It will be a mixed gender area where women will be able to pray, read Torah, etc. in groups.  How wonderful!  I will never need to enter the men’s only section again!

Maybe now the Messiah can come!

B’shalom,