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10 Av 5764 - July 28, 2004 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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NEWS
Spontaneous Protests Prevent Encroachment on Holiness of Kosel Maarovi
by Betzalel Kahn

Staunch protests by men and women praying at the Kosel succeeded in upholding the kedushoh of the Western Wall Plaza by preventing a group of women from holding a Torah- reading ceremony in the Ezras Noshim on Rosh Chodesh Av.

The High Court accepted the State's position by deferring for three months the ruling on the group of women seeking to debase the holiness of the Kosel Maarovi on roshei chodashim.

Previously, the High Court ordered them not to pass Robinson's Arch, provided suitable accommodations are made for them. Failing to meet this obligation within the time allotted, the State requested a three-month extension to complete the work and the Court agreed.

Recently the group met at the Western Wall Plaza without notifying any of the civilian bodies and proceeded to hold a ceremony not in keeping with the holiness of the Kosel. Dozens of men and women who had come to pray began to shout in protest and express their grief. Following a request by the rov of the Kosel, HaRav Shmuel Rabinovitz, who was there at the time, police decided to escort them off the premises.

The group returned on Rosh Chodesh Av in another attempt to hold this provocative ceremony, because upon completion of the alternative site within the next few weeks they will no longer be permitted to enter the Western Wall Plaza.

Rav Rabinovitz expressed hopes the police would prevent offensive ceremonies of this kind from taking place at the Kosel in the future.

 

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