If you are a rabbi and you want to join Rabbis for Women of the Wall, click here.

Every Jewish woman and man is invited to sign and send a letter of support to Israeli leaders by clicking here.

Congregations, cantorial associations and other Jewish institutions are invited to become Organizations for Women of the Wall by clicking here.

You must be an ordained, invested or certified cantor to become a Cantor for Women of the Wall.

If you are such a cantor, please read the Cantorial Preamble and Statement below, scroll down to the bottom of the page, complete the form and sign up to become a Cantor for Women of the Wall. Your personal message will be emailed with your title and name to the following Israeli government officials:

• Prime Minister of Israel Binyamin Netanyahu
• Speaker of the Knesset Rubi Rivlin
• Head of the Kadima Party and Leader of the Oppostion Tzipi Livni
• Chairman of the Executive of the Jewish Agency Natan Sharansky
• Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz Shlita, Administrator of the Western Wall and Holy Sites
• Mayor of Jerusalem Nir Barkat
• Major General Aharon Franko, Chief of Police, Jerusalem (sent via regular mail)

Within two weeks, your name will be added to the Cantor’s Circle of Honor below.

CANTORIAL PREAMBLE

We, the undersigned Orthodox, Masorti/Conservative, Progressive/Reform, Reconstructionist and Renewal cantors, declare ourselves to be Cantors for Women of the Wall and we endorse the Statement below:

STATEMENT OF SUPPORT OF WOMEN OF THE WALL ISSUED 26 TISHREI 5771

We stand in support and solidarity with Women of the Wall, an international confluence of Jewish women from around the world who strive to achieve the right, as women, to wear tallitot (prayer shawls), and to pray and read from the Torah collectively and out loud at HaKotel HaMaaravi (the Western Wall) in Jerusalem. We affirm our solidarity with Women of the Wall as part of our deep commitment to, and love for, the State of Israel and its inhabitants.

Many of our sisters and daughters, mothers and grandmothers, and female leaders and teachers across the world hold the Torah and read from the Torah. Hundreds of thousands of women and young girls embrace our Torah Scrolls while their prayers reverberate in our synagogues. We pray without disturbance in many lands on every continent. Women’s prayers are seen as normal and accepted in many places around the world. Sadly, however, in Jerusalem, a woman can be verbally assaulted, physically assaulted, arrested and treated as a criminal for wearing a tallit or holding a Torah Scroll or reading from a Torah Scroll at the Kotel and its surrounding areas.

We call upon you, the government of Israel, your leaders, your courts and your rabbinic officials to open your hearts to the diversity of Judaism within your borders and around the world. We deeply respect the right of all Jews to pray in accordance with their own minhag (custom) and interpretation of halachah (Jewish law), so long as in doing so, they do not cause harm to others. We support the rights of those Jewish women who choose to not lead worship or carry Torah Scrolls or read from Torah Scrolls to have safe space at the Kotel where they may take part in prayers in accordance with their views of halachah.

We call upon the Mayor and Chief of Police of Jerusalem to provide protection to Women of the Wall as they pray at the Kotel each Rosh Hodesh, rather than harassing them. We call upon the government of Israel and its police forces and military to immediately institute and enforce a zero tolerance policy against attacking women in any way whatsoever, including throwing chairs and feces-filled diapers and other objects at women who pray together at the Kotel on Rosh Hodesh and at other times, as well as the attacking of women anywhere in Israel for carrying traces of their religious observance, such as marks on their arms from wearing tefillin.

We additionally call upon the government of Israel, its leaders, its courts and its rabbinic officials to find appropriate and safe venues at the Kotel for Jews who are not comfortable with women leading worship or holding the Torah or reading from it to enjoy their practice of Judaism unhindered, and physically separated from other designated portions of the Kotel where women are allowed to lead worship, wear a tallit, wear tefillin, hold the Torah and read from the Torah.

We proudly sign our names below and we invite cantors everywhere to join us in adding their voices to our voices by signing this letter, and we invite all Jewish organizations to become Organizations for Women of the Wall at http://womenofthewall.org.il/solidarity/take-a-stand/organizations-take-a-stand.

B’chavod Rav (With deep respect),

Cantors for Women of the Wall

Cantorial Co-Chairs
Cantor Susan Caro, President, American Conference of Cantors (Reform)
Cantor Jack Kessler, Chair, OHALAH Cantorial Vaad (Renewal)
Cantor David Propis, President, Cantors Assembly (Conservative)
Cantor Eric Schulmiller, Harmoniyah: the Reconstructionist Music Network.

Circle of Honor