The Women of the Wall (WoW) activist group held a reading of the
Book of Esther at the Western Wall on Shushan Purim Monday morning, attended by
approximately 100 participants.
The event passed off without incident and no
arrests were made, unlike recent prayer services conducted by the organization
which have seen the police detain several female worshippers for wearing prayer
shawls at the site, something technically forbidden by law.
Many of the attendees dressed up in costume, according to
Purim custom, with WoW Chairwoman Anat Hoffman dressing up as a haredi man and
17-year-old Hallel Silverman, who was detained earlier this month, attending as
a convict. Hoffman said that she hoped that all future WoW prayer services
would pass as peacefully “it the police will act against extremists at the
Western Wall and not against women praying together.”