Israel’s Supreme Court opened a hearing on Tuesday morning with an expanded panel of seven justices, headed by liberal Justice Yitzchak Amit, to issue a ruling on petitions from Reform organizations and the Women of the Wall group demanding to hold egalitarian Reform prayer services at the Kosel.

The justices declined to address the question of whether egalitarian prayer can take place at the Kosel and instead focused on why egalitarian prayer services are not being held. Attorney Doron Taubman, who is representing the Chief Rabbanut, argued that the court has no authority to interfere in the matter. “The court has no jurisdiction over tefilla arrangements, just as it would not rule on the issue of removing shoes in a mosque,” he said. “The court cannot rule on these matters.”

He added, “Sixteen million people visit here every year, and about 20 women here are asking for something different. It’s inconceivable that on one hand, the court lacks authority on this issue, and on the other hand, it issues contradictory directives to the municipality.”

On Monday evening, the Chief Rabbanim of Israel, HaRav Dovid Yosef and HaRav Kalman Ber, submitted a detailed p’sak halacha on the matter via Attorney Doron Taubman. The Rabbanim wrote that distinctly halachic matters—especially tefillos at the Jewish people’s holiest site—are beyond the court’s judicial authority. “Legal tools cannot adjudicate issues rooted in emunah and halacha,” they stated.

Their p’sak stated that the Kosel plaza has the full status of a shul, and its kedushah is derived from its proximity to the Makom Hamikdash, and therefore the strictest halachic rules apply to the area, including complete gender separation. It also stressed the importance of preserving “Minhag HaMakom,” noting that for generations, tefillos that contradict the Mesoras Yisrael have never been held at the Kosel.

The Rabbanim also noted that an alternative section already exists—the Ezrat Yisrael area at the southern plaza—where non-traditional prayer services are permitted, and therefore there is no justification for “turning the main Kosel plaza into a political or social battleground.”

The Chief Rabbanim concluded, “The Kosel is a remnant of our Beis Hamikdash—it is not private property or a protest site. We expect the court to respect Israel’s millennia-old mesorah and prevent harm to the site’s kedusha and the achdus of the kehal that davens there.”

The hearing is a continuation of a government decision in 2016 to adopt the “Kosel plan,” which aimed to fundamentally alter the Kosel’s character. The plan called for granting official recognition and management roles to Reform and Conservative representatives over the Kosel complex, creating a large area for mixed and non-halachic prayer, and allocating a yearly budget of millions of shekels for a joint governing body.

However, public opposition to the plan quickly emerged, with religious groups, such as the Liba Center, organizing mass tefillah gatherings in order to win the battle on the ground via public presence. After about eighteen months of political and public pressure, the government froze the plan.

Despite the freeze, tensions have persisted, with members of the Women of the Wall organization creating monthly provocations at the Kosel in a bid for public attention.

The Women of the Wall group and the Reform organizations have openly stated that their battle for control over the Kosel is symbolic and that official recognition of Reform groups at the Kosel would facilitate the advancement of civil marriage, public transportation on Shabbos, and minimizing the control of the Rabbanut over religious matters.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)