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In landmark decision, cabinet approves egalitarian prayer space at Western Wall
Israel’s cabinet yesterday approved for the first time ever, the establishment of a mixed-sex prayer area at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. The decision is viewed by many as an important recognition for non-Orthodox Judaism, which accounts for a large segment of Jewish communities across the world, especially outside Israel.
The issue of women’s and non-Orthodox prayer services at the Western Wall has intensified over recent years. Such practice is a departure from Orthodox Jewish tradition, but it has nonetheless received the backing of Israel’s courts despite protests from Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community.
Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky previously proposed plans for a single entrance to the Western Wall plaza from which worshippers can access an egalitarian prayer area. However, yesterday’s cabinet decision approves the replacement of a temporary prayer platform for egalitarian prayer, established by then-Religious Affairs Minister Naftali Bennett, with a more permanent structure. It will be located towards the southern end of the Western Wall, separate from the main plaza, but will share a common entrance.
Israel’s cabinet voted in favour of the new arrangement with 15 in favour and 5 against. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the decision “a fair and creative solution” and “a compromise on this delicate issue in a place that is supposed to unite the Jewish people.”
The new prayer area will be administered by an independent committee, removing it from the auspices of the Western Wall’s official religious custodian, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, who commented that he received the cabinet’s decision with a “heavy heart and a sigh of relief.” Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel, who represents the Orthodox-affiliated Jewish Home party said that the decision “harms the Jewish tradition.” However, Rabbi Gilad Kariv, head of the Reform movement in Israel said, “Once and for all, the government has put an end to the ultra-Orthodox monopoly” at the Western Wall, ensuring “more than one way of praying.”