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Podcast: North Star with Ellin Bessner
Episode: Why Egalitarian Prayer at the Western Wall is at Risk
Description: Israel’s Supreme Court ordered the government on Feb. 19 to complete long-delayed renovations to Robinson’s Arch, the official egalitarian prayer section just south of the main Western Wall. For years, it’s where non-Orthodox Jews, including women, can pray together, and also read from a Torah scroll.
But what began as a ruling about construction permits has quickly become something bigger.
Members of Israel’s governing coalition are advancing legislation this week that would effectively bring the broader Kotel site, including Robinson’s Arch, under the authority of the ultra-Orthodox Chief Rabbinate. The law could mean...