American Jewish comedienne Sarah Silverman had high praise for her sister Monday, hours after Rabbi Susan Silverman was one of 10 women arrested for conducting prayers services at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, in contravention of an Israeli legal ruling.
"SO proud of my amazing sister @rabbisusan & niece @purplelettuce95", Sarah Silverman tweeted on Monday.
Click here for full tweet (please note it contains strong language).
Susan Silverman, a reform rabbi, was with two other American citizens and seven Israeli members of “Women of the Wall”, a group that campaigns for gender equality in religious practice, were also detained.
The group routinely convenes for monthly prayer sessions at the Western Wall. Its members are frequently detained by police for wearing prayer shawls at the site.
Rabbi Silverman said in a telephone interview from the police station where the group was held that they had been among more than 100 women attending the hour-long prayer session.
“They [police] said ‘take off your prayer shawls’, and we said ‘no’,” Silverman said. Once the prayers were over they were escorted away, she said. Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky told members of the American Jewish community later Monday that the police had allowed the women to finish praying before arresting them as they had not been causing a disturbance.