Western Wall Rabbi Questions Sharansky Plan

Shmuel Rabinowitz, the rabbi of the Western Wall, said rabbis must weigh whether to oppose a compromise proposal over egalitarian prayer at Judaism’s holiest site.

In a statement Thursday, Rabinowitz vowed to fight against “the slightest deviation” from customary practice at the Western Wall. However, he left unclear whether the compromise forged by Jewish Agency for Israel Chairman Natan Sharansky, which would create a permanent site for egalitarian prayer at a section of the Western Wall called Robinson’s Arch, constituted such a deviation.

“I want the Western Wall to continue to unite the nation as in the past, according to the customs of the site and without veering away from Jewish halachah,” or law, Rabinowitz said. “That said we must, along with the Chief Rabbinate and other great rabbis, examine if we should oppose the proposal referring to Robinson’s Arch, which is not part of the Western Wall synagogue, if this would be a solution acceptable to everyone and will distance dispute from the Western Wall Plaza and prevent the continued provocations and ‘baseless hatred.’”

Read More: @ jpost.com

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