By Noam Sheizaf*
Head of Women of the Wall was
held in custody the entire night after trying to pray at the holy site while
wearing a prayer shawl – a practice reserved only for men, according to
Orthodox Judaism.
Three members of Women of the Wall (Neshot Hakotel), a group of Jewish women which seeks to conduct prayers and
read from Torah at the Western Wall, were arrested by police in the last 24
hours, during the “Rosh Hodesh Heshvan” (new month prayers) at the Western Wall
in the Old City of Jerusalem. The head of the organization, Anat Hoffman, was
arrested last night for “disturbing public order,” while trying to pray at the
Wall. Director Lesley Sachs and board member Rachel Cohen Yeshurun were
detained Wednesday morning for the same offense.
Rachel and Lesley were released
after a short detention at the police station in the Old City, although Anat
Hoffman was taken to the police station at the Russian Compound. She has
refused to speak to the police without the presence of an attorney and was held
in detention the entire night. At the time of writing, Anat was undergoing
interrogation. Other members of the organization held their morning prayer
outside the police station; members of Israel Religious Action Center also
arrived at the station.
According to the organization, Women
of the Wall “seeks the right for Jewish women from Israel and around the world
to conduct prayer services, read from a Torah scroll while wearing prayer
shawls, and sing out loud at the Western Wall– Judaism’s most sacred holy site
and the principal symbol of Jewish people hood and sovereignty.” Orthodox Jews
believe that only men can wear prayer shawls and read from the Torah. As a
result, religious rabbis often try to prevent the women from conducting their
prayers at the wall. The police is supportive of the Orthodox approach, and
arrests of women have taken place several times.
The Orthodox Rabbinate has legal
monopoly in Israel over all religious services for Jews, including the
management of the Western Wall.
Rabbi Gilad Kariv, Executive
Director of the Reform Movement in Israel responded to the incident, saying
that “the arrest of the Women of the Wall by the police is a further reminder
of the need to completely alter the relation of state and religion in Israel,
and to reverse the Orthodox monopoly. The struggle over the Kotel is a major
part in the fight to let women sit in the front of the bus [in lines serving
religious communities – N.S.], to sing and to receive equal treatment in the
religious courts.”
*Noam Sheizaf I am an independent journalist and editor.
I have worked for Tel Aviv’s Ha-ir local paper, for Ynet.co.il and for the
Maariv daily, where my last post was deputy editor of the weekend magazine. My
work has recently been published in Haaretz, Yedioth Ahronoth, The Nation and
other newspapers and magazines. More…
I was born in Ramat-Gan and today live and
work in Tel Aviv. Before working as a journalist, I served four and a half
years in the IDF.
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário