Women of the Wall Victory: The Kotel’s Local Custom No Longer Means Orthodox Custom

The Jerusalem District Court considered the main grounds that police cite for detaining members of Women of the Wall, the interdenominational feminist group that gathers monthly for prayers a the Western Wall and concluded that there was no justification for the detention of five women earlier this month, and that the police’s request for restraining orders to keep them away from the Wall can’t be granted.

“Today Women of the Wall liberated the Western Wall for all Jewish people. We did it for the eight-year-old girl who can now dream of having her Bat Mitzvah at the Wall, and for the grandmother who cannot climb on a chair in order to see her grandson’s Bar Mitzvah. We did it for the great diversity of Jews in the world, all of whom deserve to pray according to their belief and custom at the Western Wall,” Anat Hoffman, the group’s chair, said in a statement.

Read here for more about the decision and its impact.