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April 5, 2011

Women of the Wall Prayer Leader Threatened with Arrest
 
Jerusalem, Israel – On April 5, 2011 at 7:00 AM, Women of the Wall gathered at the Western Wall to pray and celebrate the beginning of the Jewish Month of Nisan. Despite the pouring rain, approximately 35 women attended. Lesley Sachs, director of Women of the Wall said, “There are those who say that we are just putting on a show. Women have been coming to pray at seven in the morning for 22 years, even in these miserable conditions. It is clear that they are truly committed and sincere.”

Police used multiple petty maneuvers this morning to intimidate and harass Women of the Wall. First, board member Cheryl Birkner Mack, wearing her tallit, was stopped by the guards. They then confiscated the dry-erase markers from her bag with no explanation. Raaya Epstein, an Israeli woman in her 20s and a regular WOW participant, was the prayer leader for the Hallel service. Police ordered director Lesley Sachs to ask Raaya to lower her voice. Lesley refused, explaining that she was “not in the business of silencing women.” Police then ordered Raaya directly to lower her voice, saying that they would arrest her if she did not.

The police also acted with disrespect and negligence towards Women of the Wall’s Torah. First, they hesitated in putting the Torah in a police van in order to protect it from the rain. Then, after services at the Kotel, the van with the Torah in it was nowhere to be found. The women were forced to borrow a Torah at Robinson’s Arch, delaying their service significantly.

Lesley Sachs said, “The month of Nisan features the holiday of Passover. Contrary to the core message of this holiday, the Jerusalem police acted to suppress our religious freedom and expression.”

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March 7, 2011

Women Prohibited From Dancing at the Kotel

Jerusalem, Israel – On March 7, 2011 at 7:00 AM, Women of the Wall gathered at the Western Wall to pray and celebrate the beginning of the Jewish Month of Adar II.

Adar is the most joyous of the Hebrew months, and it is customary to celebrate with song and dance. Toward the end of the service, the women began to form a circle to dance. Police immediately thwarted their attempt, claiming that women were forbidden to dance at the Western Wall. Last month, on February 4, in celebration of Adar I, Women of the Wall formed a large dance circle without any such interruption. Although there is no legal basis for barring women from dancing at the Western Wall and the group has danced there without hindrance several times in the past, attempts to silence women’s religious participation and expression at the holy site continue.

Women of the Wall will meet again on Monday, March 21 at 10:00 AM on Shushan Purim in order to read the Megillah on the women’s side of the Western Wall.

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March 3, 2011

Women of the Wall to Celebrate Adar II at the Western Wall

Jerusalem, Israel – On Monday, March 7, 2011 at 7:00 AM, Women of the Wall will gather at the Western Wall to pray and celebrate the beginning of the Jewish Month of Adar II.

The joyous holiday of Purim is the highlight of the month of Adar. Esther, the heroine of the Purim story, is inspired by the words of Mordecai: “If you keep silent at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place… and who knows whether you became royalty for just such a time as this?”

Anat Hoffman, chairwoman of Women of the Wall, said, “Women of the Wall are committed to and inspired by the words of Mordecai to Esther that we will read this coming Purim. He tells Esther not to keep silent. The Jewish world cannot be silent about injustice and inequality. The antidote to silence is action. We turn to the whole Jewish world, men and women alike, to help us reclaim the Wall for all Jews. Ha-kotel le-kulam — the Kotel is for all of us.”

Women of the Wall will also gather on March 21, 2011 at 10:30 AM to read Megillat Esther. Hoffman, who plans to dress up as a yeshiva boy on Purim, said, “The Megillah is supposed to be read in front of a large audience because according to our tradition, ‘A multitude of people is a king’s glory.’ The glorification of God demands the voices of many – male and female. The Western Wall must become a place where women’s voices are not silenced.”

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February 4, 2011

Women of the Wall Dance at the Western Wall

Jerusalem, Israel – On February 4, 2011 at 7:00 AM, over 60 women from Israel, the United States, and the CIS gathered with Women of the Wall at the Western Wall to pray and celebrate the beginning of the Jewish Month of Adar I.

Joining Women of the Wall this month were participants of Project Kesher, a program that provides innovative leadership training and Jewish education for Russian-speaking women and girls.

Despite the early morning rain, Women of the Wall sang and prayed aloud. In addition, in celebration of Adar – known as the most joyous of the Jewish months – Women of the Wall danced together in a large circle in the women’s section.

At the entrance to the Western Wall, numerous participants were stopped by the security guards. The guards inspected and questioned them about the tallitot [prayer shawls] that they carried in their bags. Participant Bonnie Ros said that the guard insisted she remove her tallit but she refused. The guards’ intervention is a new example of the attempts to suppress the religious expression of women at the Western Wall.

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February 2, 2011
Women of the Wall to Celebrate Adar I at the Western Wall

Jerusalem, Israel – On February 4, 2011 at 7:00 AM, Women of the Wall will gather at the Western Wall to pray and celebrate the beginning of the Jewish Month of Adar I.

This month’s service will be dedicated to the memory of Jewish singer and songwriter Debbie Friedman, who died last January 9. Friedman, a strong feminist and supporter of Women of the Wall, once said, “It was kol isha (the voice of women) for col isha (every woman) that inspired me to write inclusive music…. Ultimately, the voices of women, their sense of empowerment, can be borne from song, which can form the core of political, spiritual, and economic transformation.”

The voices of women continue to be suppressed by the Israeli government. Women of the Wall Chairwoman Anat Hoffman, who was arrested seven months ago for carrying a Torah scroll in the Western Wall plaza, is still under threat of a three-year prison sentence. Hoffman said, “The government is using intimidation tactics against us. By leaving the leader of the organization in this precarious situation, none of our participants can know what will happen to them for joining us.”

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January 30, 2011
Northern California Rabbis Support Women of the Wall

From January 24-29, a delegation of 30 Rabbis from Northern California various high-ranking officials in Israel. The delegation, which was arranged by Israeli Consul General for the Pacific Northwest Akiva Tor, included Consul Tor and Rabbis from the Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist and Renewal movements. As participant Rabbi Rosalind Glazer explained, “Our joint participation is a model of Jewish diversity in the U.S. We hope that our unified voice can make a powerful statement about the underlying value of, and need for, religious pluralism in Israel. As American Jews, our voices need to be taken seriously at this critical juncture in the history of Israel and the Jewish people.” The Rabbis met with M.K.’s Yuli Edelstein (Likud) and Nachman Shai (Kadima), Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, Supreme Court Justices Elyakim Rubenstein and Salim Jubran, and Jewish Agency Chair Natan Sharansky.

The delegation spent Friday, January 28, in the Old City of Jerusalem visiting the Kotel tunnels, Robinson’s Arch, and the City of David. The day began with an early-morning meeting with Anat Hoffman, the chairwoman of Women of the Wall, who shared the group’s political and legal history. Hoffman said, “Israel could choose to be a leader in the Jewish world. There could be a bat mitzvah at the Kotel.” The rabbis flooded Hoffman with questions and snapped photos of her wearing a Women of the Wall tallit and head covering. Hoffman encouraged supporters to sell the Women of the Wall tallit in their gift shops, invite congregants to write letters to Israeli government officials, and bring their synagogue trips to Women of the Wall services on Rosh Hodesh.

Many of the rabbis in the delegation have been long-time supporters of Women of the Wall. In October 2010, Bay Area Rabbi Pamela Frydman and Rabbi Menachem Creditor launched an international campaign called “Rabbis for Women of the Wall.” Over 600 Rabbis, 85 Cantors, 60 organizations and 1000 individuals have since signed a statement to Israeli officials demanding that that they define a time or place at the Kotel where women are allowed to lead worship, wear a tallit, wear tefillin, hold the Torah and read from the Torah. Rabbi Frydman, who participated in the January delegation, presented a packet to each government official (and Head of External Affairs Natalie Kimchi on behalf of the Supreme Court Justices) containing the statement and accompanying signatures as well as a new set of letters signed by hundreds of rabbis, cantors, rabbinic and cantorial associations, social justice organizations, congregations and individuals. In addition, Rabbi Glazer presented a letter from Bay Area Friends of Women of the Wall.

In addition to the letter-writing campaigns, many congregations participated in Women of the Wall’s photo campaign last summer, when thousands of women all over the world were photographed holding a Sefer Torah. Rabbi Chaim Schwartz, President of Congregation Chadesh Yameinu in Santa Cruz said of the photo campaign, “Women were in tears. Many of them had never held a Torah before, because they had never been invited to do so.”

Rabbi Shoshanah Devorah of Congregation Kol HaEmek in Mendocino County, participated in the January delegation. She was present at Women of the Wall’s second gathering in 1988, and participated regularly until 1995 when she moved to the U.S. Rabbi Devorah remembers the tear gas used by police during one of Women of the Wall’s services in 1988, and said she felt like she was “at a civil rights protest in the U.S. in the ‘60s.” Devorah, who became a Rabbi at the age of 59, recalled fondly that “Women of the Wall was very important in my own spiritual development. It was the first place that I put on a tallit.”

Rabbi Rosalind Glazer of Congregation Beth Israel Judea in San Francisco is an International Vice-Chair of Rabbis for Women of the Wall and also serves on the Steering Committee for Friends of Women of the Wall, a San Francisco Bay Area group of women and men who advocate for the acceptance of all streams of Judaism in Israel. Rabbi Glazer was in tears as she spoke about women at the Kotel, “Mayor Barkat told us that the Kotel is for all Jews. But, that is not true today. Jews in the diaspora want a place to be spiritual. It is the first place they go and it is the first place they get slapped in the face. The message that they get on their first experience is ‘you’re not equal; you’re not welcome.’”

Rabbi Stephen Pearce, Senior Rabbi of Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco recently joined Glazer and twenty-one others as an International Vice Chair of Rabbis for Women of the Wall. Explaining his decision, Pearce said, “I am thrilled to help pursue a sense of justice. The struggle of Women of the Wall is a model of how Israel can learn to compromise and pursue conflict resolution in other areas.”

Rabbi Mauricio Balter, President of the Rabbinical Assembly in Israel also recently became an International Vice Chair, joining Rabbi Andrew M. Sacks, Director of the RA in Israel, one of the original Vice Chairs. “I feel that it’s a very big z’chut [privilege] to serve” said Balter of his new role.

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January 6, 2011
Police Seek to Silence Women’s Prayer

Jerusalem, Israel – On January 6, 2011 at 7 am, over 70 women and 20 men gathered with Women of the Wall at the Western Wall to pray and celebrate the beginning of the Jewish Month of Shevat. Participating in the services were people who travelled from Brazil, South Africa, and North America.

On numerous occasions during the prayer service, police officers asked the women to lower their voices and to refrain from singing aloud. Anat Hoffman, chairwoman of Women of the Wall responded, “We are not in the business of silencing women.”

After services, Hoffman encouraged the female participants to join a network of “freedom riders,” who will monitor gender segregation on public buses. Just this morning, the Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling declaring such segregation on Israeli buses illegal. Women of the Wall applaud the court’s ruling.

Hoffman explained that she is “delighted because the Supreme Court of Justice Jerusalem declared that segregation in state-sponsored services is in contrast to democratic values of equality.”

“However, she continued, “the court has left a door open. That is the back door, and women who have for years been bullied into sitting in the back, have been trained to sit there. I want that door closed,” she said.

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January 4, 2011

Women of the Wall Celebrate Shevat at the Western Wall

Jerusalem, Israel - On January 6, 2011 at 7 am, Women of the Wall will gather at the Western Wall to pray and celebrate the beginning of the Jewish Month of Shevat.

The month of Shevat features the holiday of Tu Bshevat, the New Year for trees. This year, Tu Bshevat will have deep significance in light of the millions of trees devoured in the recent Carmel fire. As Anat Hoffman, chairwoman of Women of the Wall explains, “Shevat is the month of rebirth and renewal. This month, we will dedicate our prayers to the rehabilitation of Northern Israel.”

The tragic fires called attention to the neglect of public safety by government officials. Women of the Wall hope that the Israeli public will be similarly moved to address other areas where government officials neglect, and even perpetuate, injustice and the trampling of basic civil and human rights.

This past week, dozens of newspapers ran articles about the new iphone application developed by the Western Wall Heritage Foundation that allows users to watch a live feed from the Western Wall. The Kotel camera’s close-up footage only displays the men’s section. In reaction Anat Hoffman stated: “Once again, the women are hidden. From the perspective of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, they do not even exist.”

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December 6, 2010

Women of the Wall Celebrate Tevet and Chanukah at the Western Wall

Jerusalem, Israel- On December 8, 2010 Women of the Wall will gather at the Western Wall to pray and celebrate the beginning of the Jewish Month of Tevet and the 7th day of Chanukah. Chanukah requires Jews to place the menorah, with the candles lit, in the window of their homes and synagogues, to publicize the miracle of Chanukah. Public expression of tradition is rare in Jewish life, but during Chanukah it is a commandment.

Throughout the year, at monthly prayer services at the Western Wall Women of the Wall are repeatedly asked to hide and silence themselves. The women’s prayer group is told to go pray at home, in private synagogues or at Robinson’s Arch (an archeological site on the southern end of the wall), anywhere but the Western Wall. The holiest site for Jews has turned into a place where only ultra-Orthodox Jews are allowed to publicly and safely pray every day, at all hours of the day, as loudly as they wish. On the 7th day of Chanukah, Women of the Wall will celebrate together as a community at the wall, at 7AM. The women will pray with voices raised and with prayer shawls- praying in the spirit of Chanukah, publicizing the miracle of women’s perseverance.

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November 4, 2010

Women of the Wall and American supporters to pray with Nofrat Frenkel,

one year after her arrest at the Western Wall

Jerusalem, Israel- On November 8, 2010 at 7AM, Women of the Wall will gather at the Western Wall for their monthly prayer service, this month commemorating the one year anniversary of the arrest of Nofrat Frenkel. One year ago, Frenkel, a 6th year medical student in Beer Sheva, was arrested at the holy site while carrying a Torah and wearing a prayer shawl.

Since her arrest and the following arrest of Anat Hoffman six months later, there has been an overwhelming international outcry of support for women’s right to pray freely, out loud, with the Torah at the wall. Over 3,250 women took pictures with their community’s Torah and emailed the pictures to Israeli leaders including Prime Minister Netanyahu and Administrator of the Western Wall and Holy Sites, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz. Three weeks ago, a new initiative, Rabbis for Women of the Wall, was launched. This great campaign of support inspired similar campaigns for cantors, organizations, and individuals. Since the launch, over 900 people have signed on to a Statement of Support for Women of the Wall. This month, over 25 women and men from the United States, including representatives from Rabbis for Women of the Wall, will be joining Women of the Wall at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Congregations all over the world will hold solidarity prayers with Women of the Wall in their congregations.

Along with commemorating the anniversary of the first arrest of a woman at the Western Wall, Women of the Wall will be holding a vigil with their Torah outside of the entrance to the Western Wall Plaza, in protest of the newest regulation passed by Rabbi Rabinowitz which prohibits men and women from entering the Western Wall Plaza with a Torah from the outside.

On the occasion of the anniversary of her arrest, Frenkel said, “As a small group of ordinary people, our struggle is going to be long and hard, against factions with tremendous political power. It was the global support we received that put the wind in our sails. After my arrest, Jews in both Israel and the Diaspora understood that we have to win this battle by foot. Men and women, from all sects of Judaism, have arrived monthly to pray with WOW at the Kotel and insist on their right for freedom of worship. The hope in our hearts has awakened again. The hope that our children will be worthy, if it is G-D’s will, to live in a state that inscribes on its flag the belief in human rights with no discrimination among different sects of one religion, among males and females, among all of those created in G-D’s image.”

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October 10, 2010

Women of the Wall Demands Answers as to the Legality of the New Western Wall Regulation

Jerusalem, Israel- On September 21, 2010 a letter was sent to Administrator of Holy Sites Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz from the attorney representing Women of the Wall, Adv Nira Azriel, with questions regarding the legality of a new regulation he recently passed banning worshippers from bring in outside Torahs into the Western Wall. Women of the Wall is claiming that the change in the custom of the holy site is illegal.

Azrieli asserts that in the Supreme Court ruling regarding Women of the Wall there is no mention or reference to restrictions on holding the Torah, or bringing the Torah into the Western Wall Plaza despite the July Arrest of Anat Hoffman while carrying a Torah there. For 21 years Women of the Wall have been bringing the Torah into the women’s section of the wall and held it, covered without opening it, while praying the morning prayer, and then carrying it to Robinson’s Arch (an area outside of the ultra-Orthodox controlled Western Wall Plaza) for the Torah service. Women of the Wall are demanding that the new regulation be repealed and that Women of the Wall be allowed to continue to carry the Torah as they had been doing peacefully under the previous regulations and in accordance to the Supreme Court ruling.

Rabbi Rabinowitz responded in a letter on  October 6, 2010 saying that his new regulation stands to reason, because there is no reason to bring Torahs into the Western Wall,  even for a Bar Mitzvah, since there are 100 Torahs there, which provide an ample response to the needs of all worshipers at any time.

In response to Rabinowitz’s letter, Women of the Wall Chair Anat Hoffman said, “The 100 Torahs in the men’s section of the Western Wall might indeed be adequate for public use, but it is clear he does not consider women as part of the public since women have no access to any of the Torahs in the men’s section.” Hoffman adds that Women of the Wall will hold a vigil with the Torah that has been banned outside the Western Wall gates at the beginning of every new month of the Hebrew Calendar, until this new illegal regulation has been repealed. This past Friday, October 8, 2010 three women held a vigil outside of the Western Wall gates, including Women of the Wall board members who have prayed there for 21 years with this Torah.

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October 6, 2010

Women of the Wall Pray for a Free New Year at the Kotel, while Thousands Stand in Solidarity Around the World

Jerusalem, Israel- On Friday, October 8th, 2010 Women of the Wall will start the Jewish New Year of 5771 with a prayer service at the Western Wall. Women of the Wall Chair Anat Hoffman, arrested while holding the Torah and ordered to refrain from coming into close proximity to the Western Wall in July 2010, will finally return to join the women’s prayer group at the wall, with the expiration of the restraining order.

In an extremely successful campaign, following Hoffman’s arrest, nearly 3,000 email messages of solidarity with Women of the Wall have been sent to Israeli political and religious representatives, from Jews in communities all over the world since August. The thousands of emails, with attached pictures of women holding  the Torah, were sent to Israeli leaders including Prime Minister Netanyahu, Head of Kadima and opposition leader Tzipi Livni, Chairman of the Executive of the Jewish Agency Natan Sharansky and Administrator of the Western Wall and Holy Sites Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz. The message sent to the decision makers is clear: “Women of the Wall are not alone.” Thousands of people from the United States, Canada, Europe, Israel, New Zealand, Australia and beyond pleaded with Israeli leaders and decision makers, that they “see and be blind no more to the injustice of religious oppression.”

This Friday, when Women of the Wall return for their first morning prayer of 5771, the group at the Western Wall will be hundreds strong, with 3,000 people standing in solidarity around the world.

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Police Recommend Pressing Charges Against Anat Hoffman while Rabinowitz Tightens his Grip on the Western Wall

Jerusalem, Israel- This week brought with it more attempts to vilify Women of the Wall and protect the Western Wall as accessible for ultra-Orthodox prayer exclusively. The Jerusalem Police recommended this week that the Ministry of Justice press charges against Anat Hoffman for the felony of “gravely obstructing a police officer in the performance of his duties”, in regards to her July arrest while holding a Torah at the Western Wall. The sentence for such a conviction is up to 3 years in prison. Members and supporters of Women of the Wall in Israel and abroad stand behind Hoffman, and have been busy sending hundreds of letters and pictures of women holding the Torah to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Head of the Opposition Tzipi Livni, Chairman of the Jewish Agency Natan Sharansky, and Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, the administrator in charge of the holy places. In these letters, women from all over the world ask Israeli leaders, “How is it that as Jewish women, we are free in Berlin, in Rome, and in Chicago, while in Jerusalem it is illegal and profane for us to read from the Torah?” Supporters are encouraged to continue to send letters and pictures from the website, http://womenofthewall.org.il/solidarity/take-a-stand, conveying a clear message to Israel’s leaders that Women of the Wall will not be intimidated or silenced.

In response to Women of the Wall’s twenty year battle to read Torah on the women’s side of the Western Wall, Rabbi Rabinowitz issued a new regulation, giving him sole and complete control over who is permitted to enter the Western Wall Plaza with a Torah. This new dictatorial procedure extends the blockade against entering to the holy site with a Torah to not only women, but also men who might be determined unfit to carry a Torah by the extremist Rabinowitz. Adv. Nira Azriel is preparing a statement on behalf of Women of the Wall to the authorities regarding the unreasonable strictness of the new regulations, which promise to worsen conditions for women even further.

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Women Return to Pray at the Western Wall, One Month after Anat Hoffman’s Arrest

Hoffman will wait, with the Torah, at the Entrance to the Western Wall Plaza

Jerusalem, Israel- On Wednesday, August 11, 2010 at 7:00 AM,Women of the Wall will return to the Western Wall (Kotel), with over one hundred women in attendance, for their regular monthly Rosh Chodesh services, to celebrate the beginning of the Jewish month of Elul 5770.

The women return to pray at the wall this month, without Anat Hoffman, Chairperson of Women of the Wall, who was arrested last month on Rosh Chodesh Av, while carrying the Torah away from the Western Wall to Robinsons Arch. Hoffman was ordered by the police to desist from approaching the holy site for 30 days. For the past few months, the police have similarly forbidden women from carrying the torah inside the area of the Western Wall, unofficially and not in accordance with the Supreme Court.

Hoffman says, “Aside from the pain and regret we feel over the latest Supreme Court decision, we have no intention of giving up on such an important and accepted Jewish symbol as the Torah. If we have been sentenced to only read the Torah at Robinson’s Arch, we will obey, but we will not give up on having the Torah present during our prayer at the Kotel.”

Since the police have exiled the Torah from the Kotel plaza, it will stay in the arms of Hoffman, who will wait for the group at the entrance of the Western Wall Plaza from 7:00-8:00 AM. Hoffman will join the march to Robinson’s Arch, to continue the celebration and prayer in the small segment of the Old City of Jerusalem where women are allowed to pray freely, safely far enough away from the Western Wall, as designated by the courts.

KNESSET MEMBERS ADVOCATE PLURALISM AT THE KOTEL

Knesset members disappointed by events transpired yesterday at Kotel

Jerusalem, Israel — Women of the Wall (WOW) members joined Chairperson, Anat Hoffman today at the Knesset for a special session examining the current status of religious intolerance and gender-segregation at the Kotel. Hoffman was stopped upon entry to the Knesset for toting her tallis. Security of the Knesset told Hoffman, permission was required in advance for the presence of the sacred prayer shawl.

Present at today’s conference were Knesset members Nitzan Horowitz and Shlomo Molla, advocates for pluralism in Israel. Horowitz and Molla expressed tremendous shock after viewing video footage of yesterday’s forceful arrest. Both Knesset members were disappointed by the events that transpired between Hoffman and police.

The focus of today’s session was gender-segregation and the ultra-Orthodox rabbinical doctrine of the Kotel. Currently, the Kotel is controlled by the Foundation for Heritage of the Wall, an organization that receives ten and millions in funds each year to promote the same brand of zealot Judaism. Knesset members expressed a desire to pass a law that will end the religious monopoly of the Kotel.

There was a somber moment at today’s discussion, when supporters of a pluralistic Kotel stated that they feared they would not live to see a mixed place of worship. Lobbyist nostalgically remembered the Kotel with a barrier free wall prior to 1967.

The conclusion of the meeting ended with the following goals – To get rid of the signs, rules and regulations that separate men and women at the Kotel, to dismantle the Foundation for Heritage of the Wall and to create an open area for all worshipers not dictated by myopic zealots.

Click here to watch video of Anat Hoffman’s Arrest at the Kotel

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ANAT HOFFMAN TAKEN INTO POLICE CUSTODY FOR CARRYING TORAH

Chairperson forcefully removed by police for carrying Torah

 Jerusalem, Israel – One of the leaders of the Reform movement in Israel and Women of the Wall (WOW) was arrested for holding a sefer Torah during a Rosh Chodesh celebration at the Western Wall.

Women of the Wall  gathered this morning for their monthly Rosh Chodesh services at 7 a.m. on the women’s side of the Kotel.  Anat Hoffman, with a sefer Torah in her arms, led the 150 women strong prayer group in song as it continued its celebration in a procession toward Robinson’s Arch.

Moments after leaving the Wall, police confronted and blocked the procession and began menacingly to attempt to remove the Torah from Hoffman’s arms.  Hundreds of participants watched in shock and distress as the Torah was jostled by police. Hoffman was detained under the pretext that she was not praying according to the traditional customs of the Kotel.

Hoffman was taken into police custody and interrogated for five hours. Police claim that holding the sefer Torah is against the Supreme Court ruling. Police are currently consulting with Attorney General to determine her charges. Anat and her lawyer stated that the act of carrying a Torah is not mentioned in the Supreme Court ruling.

Women of the Wall stood in solidarity with Anat outside of the Kishle Police Station near Jaffa Gate. Hoffman was released from police custody and banned from the Kotel for 30 days.

The arrest of a woman on the first day of the month of Av is a harsh reminder of the price that Israeli society may pay for its religious intolerance and fanaticism. Tomorrow at 13:30, WOW will lobby at the Knesset for civil equality and pluralism at the Kotel, emphasizing the Wall as a holy site for all streams of Judaism and advocating for equal rights of women at the Wall.   

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