The area in back of the Orthodox section is meant for national ceremonies like the swearing-in of new soldiers.
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The subject has been a matter of dispute for decades, with Reform and Conservative Jews demanding the right to hold prayer services at the Wall with their own liturgy and customs.
No, the segregated part of the Kotel isn’t the part of the western retaining wall that is closest to where the Temple stood; that part is underground, accessible through the tunnels.
“It’s not appropriate. The Western Wall is a place of unity”, he told Army Radio, according to The Associated Press. It is the third holiest place in Islam after Mecca and Medina, and the site of the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa mosque.
Over the weekend in Israel, officials led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, voted to allow men and women to pray-together-at the Western Wall.
The permanent mixed-gender prayer area will replace the temporary platform and create a new entrance to the Western Wall area so that both Orthodox and non-Orthodox prayer areas will be given equal prominence. The plaza will be near but separate from the Orthodox prayer plaza. But until construction is complete, “Women of the Wall” plan to continue to pray in the existing space. The prayer space would touch a 31-foot segment (9.5 meters) of the wall. It will have a government-funded staff, Torah scrolls and other ritual objects, and be open to all forms of Jewish prayer.
The accusations have at times sparked rounds of deadly violence.
Israel’s cabinet on Sunday approved for the first time ever, the establishment of a mixed-sex prayer area at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. “There is more than one way to connect to Jewish traditions and identity”, they added.
However, Jonathan Greenblatt, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League, praised the passage of the agreement, calling it “historic”.
Shmuel Rabinowitz, the current rabbi of the Western Wall, said he received the news “with a heavy heart and a sigh of relief” after what he termed “mass-media activity” and “incessant quarrels”.
It’s a big deal because these changes on the ancient religious site have been around 27 years in the making.
Thousands of people around the world go to the Western Wall everyday. Following the Cabinet vote, Moshe Gafni, a leading ultra-Orthodox lawmaker, called Reform Jews “clowns” and said he would never recognize them.
It was hailed as a “victory” by liberal Jewish movements but denounced by ultra-Orthodox Jews.
The cabinet says its decision is based on the growing diversity…
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A committee composed of two Reform leaders, two Conservative leaders, two non-Orthodox women representatives, the Jewish Agency chairman and six government officials will run the non-Orthodox section.
