Rabbis protest Israel’s

treatment of women at the Kotel

The response of the Israeli government to the arrest Oct. 16 of Anat Hoffman while she was leading worship at the Kotel is clearly inadequate and needs to be responded to further.

For instance the area of the Kotel that is considered a synagogue was recently expanded to include the entire visitors’ area. This has never been the case previously, and is an encroachment on the freedom of assembly and freedom of religious expression.

Second, the Israeli government, through its Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren, has pointed out that the area under the nearby Robinson’s Arch was reserved for egalitarian prayer. We would like to make note that Robinson’s Arch is not the Kotel HaMaaravi, the Western Wall. This means that the Western Wall, the holiest site in world Jewry, is now exclusively run by and largely for the ultra-Orthodox, according to their customs and rules, no matter how discriminatory.

Nonetheless, the State of Israel requests the support of all of world Jewry, even as it excludes de jure and de facto our participation in the religious life of Israel. If Israel is our homeland then it is the homeland of all religious Jews of whatever expression, not exclusively the ultra-Orthodox.

Ambassador Oren’s response to Hoffman’s arrest is that “civil disobedience is the right of every Israeli, but exercising that right can lead to legal consequences.” We believe he cannot simply dismiss the outrageous arrest of Anat Hoffman on the basis of law. The vast majority of religious Jews in the Diaspora are being systematically barred from participation in accordance with our longstanding customs and rituals. Indeed, the right of women to pray in public, which is part of traditional Jewish life for millennia, is being abridged. This outrage cannot simply be excused, but must be protested by all those who truly love Israel and her people.

Kansas City area rabbis
Rabbi Doug Alpert, Congregation Kol Ami
Rabbi Jacques Cukierkorn, Temple Israel
Rabbi David Glickman, Congregation Beth Shalom
Rabbi Mark Levin, Congregation Beth Torah
Rabbi Alan Londy, New Reform Temple
Rabbi Herbert Mandl, Rabbi Emeritus, Kehilath Israel Synagogue
Rabbi Arthur Nemitoff, The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah
Rabbi Beryl Padorr, Research Medical Center, Pastoral Care Department
Rabbi Rebecca Reice, Congregation Beth Torah
Rabbi Moti Rieber, Lawrence Jewish Community Center
Rabbi Jonathan Rudnick, Kansas City Community Chaplain
Rabbi Neal Schuster, Kansas University Hillel
Rabbi Alexandria Shuval-Weiner, The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah
Rabbi Linda Steigman, Kansas City Community Rabbi
Rabbi Debbie Stiel, Temple Beth Sholom, Topeka
Rabbi H. Scott White, Congregation Ohev Sholom
Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz, Kehilath Israel Synagogue

Proud to vote for Romney

In response to Sandy Salz’s letter in the Nov. 1 edition of The Chronicle, we are proud to vote for Mitt Romney.

Lisa and Lenny Cohen
Prairie Village, Kan.