Men praying at the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site and the center of an escalating battle over women\u2019s prayer restrictions, November 2012. (Ben Sales)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Hoffman says her minimum demand is for women to receive one hour at the beginning of every Jewish month — excluding Rosh Hashanah — when they can pray as a group with tallit and tefillin, and read the Torah. Ideally, Hoffman says she would want the Kotel\u2019s partition between men and women to be removed for several hours each day so that women and egalitarian groups can pray there undisturbed, but she acknowledges that such a scenario has virtually no chance of being approved by Rabinowitz.<\/p>\n
Other activists say the solution lies in adding a partition rather than removing one. Yizhar Hess, the CEO and executive director of the Israeli Conservative movement, Masorti, advocates dividing the Kotel Plaza into three sections: one for men, one for women and one for egalitarian groups. Hess also told JTA that he would like to see the rear section of the plaza opened to cultural activities such as concerts and dancing, which are prohibited now.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are many egalitarian groups who come to the wall and view it as the peak of their emotional and spiritual experience in Israel,\u201d said Uri Regev, a Reform rabbi who runs Hiddush, an Israeli religious pluralism nonprofit. \u201cThe fact that they can\u2019t express that spiritual experience in a spiritual way is a missed opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to a 2003 Israeli Supreme Court ruling, non-Orthodox and women\u2019s prayer groups can pray at Robinson\u2019s Arch, an archaeological park adjacent to the Kotel Plaza where an admission fee is required. Regev suggested that Sharansky may recommend improvements to Robinson\u2019s Arch, including an expanded prayer area and free admission for prayer groups.<\/p>\n
That may be the maximum compromise that Rabinowitz would make.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think what\u2019s happening today at the Kotel is the best for all viewpoints of the world,\u201d Rabinowitz told JTA. \u201cNo one gets exactly what they want — not haredim and not Women of the Wall. If someone thinks they can bring something better, I\u2019d love to hear it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rabinowitz declined to comment on time- or space-sharing proposals.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, which controls the Kotel, announced recently that women are no longer allowed to bring tallit or tefillin into the Kotel Plaza.<\/p>\n
The Prime Minister\u2019s Office, one official there told JTA, hopes Sharansky will bring to bear his \u201cunique experience and abilities in serving as a bridge for all streams within the Jewish people\u201d as he approaches the problem.<\/p>\n
One potential bridge between Rabinowitz and Hoffman are Modern Orthodox rabbis who believe both in Orthodoxy and pluralism.<\/p>\n
The Kotel \u201cis a holy place, but needs to belong to all of Israel,\u201d said Rabbi Yuval Cherlow, who co-founded the Modern Orthodox rabbis\u2019 organization Tzohar. Cherlow says he isn’t throwing his backing behind any particular solution but that a time-sharing arrangement may work.<\/p>\n
Daniel Goldman, chairman of the religious-secular nonprofit Gesher, says the only way to reach a compromise is to find figures who occupy middle ground who can foster some sort of accord.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Natan Sharansky could broaden the people involved in that debate beyond Rabbi Rabinowitz and Women of the Wall, it\u2019s possible to use this issue to create a more constructive dialogue,\u201d Goldman said. \u201cIf you get Anat Hoffman and Rabbi Rabinowitz in a room, it\u2019s quite obvious and clear that there will be no compromise solution.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Sharanksy.jpg\" "\\"Sharanksy\\"")