Last Thursday, Reform and Conservative leaders organized an egalitarian afternoon prayer service at the Western Wall’s main plaza. Five hundred people from around the country came to participate. In the middle of the singing, dozens of ultra-Orthodox boys and men tried to interrupt the service. They screamed curses and insults, blew whistles, shoved, spat and threw bottles at the worshippers. Uniformed police officers were present, but did not intervene to stop the violence.

The scare tactics did not work. We didn’t run and hide, and we have no intention of doing so in the future. When the cause is just, persistence pays off.

We have the victories to prove it. Just yesterday, Jerusalem’s District Court issued a final order requiring Beit Shemesh’s mayor to remove so-called “modesty signs” from the city’s streets once and for all.  The order was issued three years after our legal team first filed suit, and eighteen months after the municipality was ordered to pay damages to our clients for the humiliation these signs caused them.

Six months ago, the government voted and adopted the recommendation to establish a permanent egalitarian prayer space at the Kotel.  It hasn’t happened yet, and until it does, we won’t let up. Join us in this struggle.  Sign our petition  demanding that Prime Minister Netanyahu honour his commitment for “all Jews to feel at home at the Western Wall.”

Your voice matters. Speak up.

Yours,

Anat Hoffman