Egalitarian prayer section at the Western Wall

Should control of the Western Wall be delegated to one sect of Judaism over another? - editorial

With already strained Jewish unity, a recent Knesset vote sends a message that Israel is prepared to legislate one stream of Judaism’s authority over a site that carries meaning for all.

Ultra-orthodox Jewish men talk on the phone in front of the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City on December 4, 2025.
A Jewish woman covered in a white prayer shawl prays in front of the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City, during the Jewish holiday of Passover, April 2, 2018

Israel must advance permits for egalitarian Western Wall plaza, High Court orders

Members of the Women of the Wall, Conservative and Reform Movement  hold Rosh Hodesh prayer at the Western Wall in Jerusalem Old City, March 4, 2022.

Western Wall compromise: Israel's High Court to hold hearing

 MK Gilad Kariv holds a Torah Scroll during Rosh Hodesh prayer of women of the wall, at the Western Wall in Jerusalem Old City, February 22, 2023.

Reform rabbis hold prayers at Kotel, Noam Party activists protest in egal section


‘Mechitza’ (separation) at the Western Wall – and the unity of Israel

The rabbis and leaders of the Jewish Theological Seminary prayed separately until the 1980s, as also did most Reform Jews in Europe before the Holocaust.

Women reading selichot -- Jewish penitential poems and prayers said leading up to the High Holidays -- at the Western Wall before Rosh Hashana

High Court to government: Frozen Western Wall plan 'can be thawed'

Judges indicated they strongly favor the implementation of the now-frozen 2016 government resolution to create a state-recognized egalitarian section at the southern end of the holy site.

Members of "Women of the Wall" pray with a Torah scroll during a monthly prayer near the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City July 24, 2017

Last Licks

The Jerusalem Post

The wall between us: Egalitarian prayer at the Western Wall

A personal view on a controversial subject.

Jamie Halper raises the Torah with Women of the Wall on July 24, 2017.

Western Wall must not become symbol of Jewish divisiveness, says Rivlin

Differences set aside in search for common values at annual Tisha Be’av study session.

The Western Wall in Jerusalem

Israeli gov't opposes court-ordered egalitarian section at Western Wall

Progressive groups petitioned the court to handle government accountability regarding the egalitarian prayer space at the Western Wall.

Reform Jews pray at new Western Wall egalitarian section

How the Western Wall deal fell apart

From the Women of the Wall to the latest Kotel controversy.

The Western Wall Plaza in Jerusalem