Women of the Wall (Hebrew: נשות הכותל, Neshot HaKotel) is an organization of women based in Israel whose goal is to secure the rights of women to pray aloud, read from the Torah and wear religious garments at the Western Wall. The group holds monthly prayer services for women on Rosh Hodesh. The service includes singing and Torah reading, with some of the women wearing a tallit and kippah, which traditionally are considered male attire. These actions have upset members of the Orthodox Jewish community, sparking protests and arrests.
Read more about Women Of The Wall: History, Arrests, Women of The Wall Rationale, Orthodox Opposition, Public Response, See Also
Famous quotes containing the words women of, women and/or wall:
“I do not know if you remember the tale of the girl who saves the ship under mutiny by sitting on the powder barrel with her lighted torch ... and all the time knowing that it is empty? This has seemed to me a charming image of the women of my time. There they were, keeping the world in order ... by sitting on the mystery of life, and knowing themselves that there was no mystery.”
—Isak Dinesen [Karen Blixen] (1885–1962)
“I believe that all women of working ages and physical capacity, regardless of income, should be expected to earn their livings either in or out of the home. Until this attitude prevails I believe the position of women will be uncertain and undignified, in spite of poetic rhapsodies to the contrary.”
—Mary Barnett Gilson (1877–?)
“What harm cause not those huge draughts or pictures which wanton youth with chalk or coals draw in each passage, wall or stairs of our great houses, whence a cruel contempt of our natural store is bred in them?”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)