3 DAY SALE
ing a final decision.
The Religious Affairs Min-
istry failed to return re-
peated phone calls re-
questing comment on the
case.
Rabbi Simha Meron, a
lawyer and former director
of Israel's rabbinical courts,
was among those represent-
ing the Orthodox position in
the case.
He expressed confidence
that the government com-
mittee would "find ways
around" the women's claim
that they have a right to
pray the same way men do,
which he said is "not accor-
ding to Halachah," or tradi-
tional Jewish law.
Until the committee
renders its decision, he said,
religious activities at the
Wall will continue to fall
under the authority of the
Orthodox rabbinate.
Every time the
women prayed,
they were
harassed by
feverently
Orthodox groups.
The women's petition was
filed in 1989, several months
after the group of mostly Or-
thodox women began to pray
together each Rosh Chodesh,
or new month, in the wo-
men's section of the Wall.
They sang aloud, wore
prayer shawls and read from
the Torah, in the same fash-
ion as the men on the other
side of the low partition
dividing the two sections.
According to media reports
at the time, each time the
women prayed, they were
harassed by the fervently
Orthodox groups, who
claimed the women were
violating Jewish law.
They also maintained that
because the women were
praying with raised voices,
they were distracting the
men from worship.
Women are permitted and
even encouraged to pray at
the Wall, they maintained,
but they should do so
silently.
The hostility culminated
in a violent attack on the
women in March 1989, when
police were called in to
disperse the crowds with
tear gas.
The women subsequently
filed their petition with the
Supreme Court, calling for
the Religious Affairs Min-
istry, the chief rabbis, the
police and fervently Or-
thodox political parties to
show why the authorities
failed to protect them as
they exercised their right to
pray as they saw fit.
Since then, the group has
dwindled to a few dozen, but
it has continued to pray each
month at the Wall. The
group has been subject to a
court order, however, barr-
ing them from praying with
a Torah and with prayer
shawls.
The court rejected their
claim to an unqualified right
to pray as they wish, but
called on the yet-to- be-
formed government com-
mittee to examine how to
take into account the feel-
ings of all the worshippers.
For most of the women this
was a partial victory.
Deana Fein, a law student
and member of the group,
said the ruling avoided an
outright confrontation with
the fervently Orthodox, who
with their political clout,
might respond by passing
new legislation codifying
"the supremacy of Orthodox
customs at the Wall."
"It is a step in the right
direction, (but only) the
beginning of a long process,"
said Anat Hoffman, a mem-
ber of the Jerusalem City
Council member and fem-
inist activist.
Meanwhile, the ruling on
the religious councils in-
validated decisions by the
Tel Aviv and Jerusalem
councils to reject Reform and
Conservative candidates.
The court, in a unanimous
ruling, said the candidates
may not be barred on the
basis of their affiliation with
non-Orthodox Jewish
movements.
The decision also will app-
ly to the Haifa council,
which has held up non-
Orthodox appointments
pending the court's ruling.
The local councils, super-
vised by the Religious Af-
fairs Ministry, have ex-
clusive jurisdiction over
marriage, kashrut, burial
and other religious matters
for all Jews living in Israel.
The services provided by
the councils are rendered ac-
cording to Orthodox practice
regardless of the affiliation
or religious customs of the
individual receiving the ser-
vice.
❑
Isaac Bashevis Singer, who
writes in Yiddish about the
experiences and traditions of
the shtetl of Eastern Europe,
started to write in Hebrew
while still a boy in Poland.
Among his most notable
books are Gimpel the Fool,
The Slave and The Magician
of Lublin.
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