1111111=111•111111111111=11 ■ 111111.111
Reform Judaism goes in
issue from yet another
their families, and if they
angle. Historically, the
have an Orthodox relative
Wall's mechitza did
somewhere
in the family
not exist, and there
tree.
was no Orthodox or
"The answer is always
feminist agenda.
that somewhere, there
Instead, she said, as
was an Orthodox rela-
the country has begun
tive," he said. "The Wall
to develop, the
has been an Orthodox
emphasis on this issue
institution for centuries.
has shifted.
I
want to stress that it
"For so long, Israel
belongs to all Jews. But
was focused on border
it is an Orthodox place."
issues. There was the
The request to change
war in Lebanon, and
the practice at the Wall "is
before that, the Yom
not in the spirit of Jewish
— Rabbi Daniel Nevins
Kippur War. Only
tradition, Jewish custom.
when Israel had grown
It is offensive to the peo-
stable did these issues
ple who are historically
come to the fore," said
entitled to have their stan-
Rabbi Feldman. "The
dards kept," Rabbi
tensions have always
Jacobovitz said. He won-
been there, but the
dered how these students
first 40 years of Israel's
would react if an
existence was an entire
Orthodox rabbi went to
time of crisis. There
Cincinnati to the Hebrew
came a point when
Union College Jewish
people were no longer
Institute of Religion, the
able to put these
Reform movement's
things aside."
school of higher educa-
Others say it is a
tion, "and demanded that
matter of Americans
they put up a mechitza? It is the same
elbowing their way into the Israeli cul-
thing."
ture. The supporting organizations, like
In a similar vein, his wife echoes his
ICWOW, include many American
sentiments.
women; some are Conservative, Reform
"As a woman and as a Torah obser-
or Reconstructionist rabbis.
vant Jew, I can understand their frus-
Intertwined with this point is the
tration," Bayla Jacobovitz said. "There
argument that the non-Orthodox are
is a lot of pain and passion about this
fighting to change the established way
issue. For the last two thousand years,
of the Jewish state, where Orthodox
the area of the Wall has been run
rabbis hold dominance in matters of
under traditional, Orthodox tradition.
birth, marriage and death and what is
You
wouldn't go into a Moslem
taught in the public schools.
mosque and ask them to change their
As for religious sites, near the begin-
ways. You wouldn't go into the United
ning of WOW's struggle, the Israeli
States Supreme Court and ask them to
Supreme Court ruled it was against
follow a different protocol. Why is it
the law to violate the predominant
OK to do that with the Kotel? I am
local custom, meaning Orthodoxy,
saddened that this is such a struggle."
where the Wall was concerned.
Though he understands the passion,
This point has come to a head as
Rabbi Jacobovitz does not condone the
groups containing many Americans
violence the women have encountered.
have tried to hold egalitarian prayer ses-
"I can understand the anger of some
sions at the Wall. When a mixed-gen-
individuals who cannot control them-
der group of American Reform rabbis
selves when they see the place of their
tried to pray at a spot near the Western
ancestors being desecrated," he said,
Wall in February 1999, they were greet-
adding that these are a few incidents
ed with protests so loud, the rabbis say
committed by a few individuals. "There
they could barely hear each other.
is no question that any violence is against
the specific directive of the great sages of
An Orthodox Place'
Israel. It is absolutely unacceptable and
should never be used."
Machon L:Torah's Rabbi Jacobovitz has
Rabbi Daniel Nevins of Adat
been confronted by college students who
Shalom Synagogue in Farmington
asked why Reform Jews in mixed-gender
Hills politely, but immediately, dis-
groups could not pray at the Wall. In
response, he has asked how far back
WALL DIVIDED on page 12

"Instead of
finding joy,
[teen mission
goers] had a
very angry
experience at
the Kotel."

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