Women of the Wall (WoW) were at the Kosel Sunday morning, 2 Rosh Chodesh Teves, as the organization has done monthly for decades. They explained they are davening for the victims of the Monsey Chanukah stabbing attack, which occurred on motzei Shabbos, leaving a number of people wounded.

As is the case monthly, their presence and effort to bring a Sefer Torah into the ezras noshim are viewed by the frum tzibur as a provocation. Some 200 women participated in the WoW tefilla event, WoW reports in a media statement.

Officials of the Kosel Heritage Foundation report that an effort by the women to bring a Sefer Torah into the ezras noshim was prevented. This is prohibited by the long-standing tradition of Klal Yisrael and of course, the Kosel, as well as in line with a High Court of Israel ruling.

The Kosel Heritage Foundation reports there were some 1,000 women davening in the ezras noshim, of which, about 30 were part of the WoW group, not 200 as the organization reports was the case.

In response, WoW explains that the Rav of the Kosel, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, does not permit them to use “one of the 100s of Sifrei Torah at the Kosel and therefore, we have to bring our own. Unfortunately, this month again, a Kosel guard, acting under the direction of the Kosel rav, did not permit us to bring the Torah into the ezras noshim, as if we were carrying a bomb. We will continue to make every effort on a monthly basis to bring a Sefer Torah in, until we are successful.”

In the accompanying video, the woman speaks in Hebrew and then in English about the Monsey attack.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)