The Plight of Israeli Women in another Middle East Theocracy………….
“JERUSALEM — The women come from all over Israel every month to pray at the Western Wall, one of Judaism's holiest sites. As their voices rise and fall in prayer, onlookers gawk and occasionally harass the praying women. Israeli police have arrested several women on charges of disturbing the peace; Orthodox men and women have spit at, cursed and attacked others……. To the Orthodox and other groups who adhere to a strict interpretation of Jewish law, however, the fight is over who controls Israel's religious institutions, and it's but one of the struggles by non-Orthodox Jews to challenge the largely Orthodox conventions that rule Israel's religious life……. Two decades ago, the Women of the Wall began petitioning Israel's High Court of Justice. Their court battles continue, but up to now the courts have ruled that it's illegal for the women to read aloud from the Torah or wear tallits in public. They're allowed to do so only in a separate, out-of-sight platform built expressly for their use south of the main Western Wall plaza. While it's technically part of the Western Wall, it's nearly 100 yards from the main area. "The problem is that Israel is controlled by the rabbinate" — rabbinical authorities — "and there is no separation of church and state. There is no freedom of religion, so I have to practice my religion in closed doors," said Sharon Orshalimy, a 25-year-old student………”
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