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.
