High Court Defers Ruling on Women at Kosel

Israel’s High Court postponed judgment on a petition from Women of the Wall for the right to conduct their own prayer ceremonies and read from the Torah at the Kosel.

Times of Israel reports that the judges heard the arguments of the women’s group on Wednesday, but deferred judgment on the case so that it can be combined with a hearing on the layout of the Western Wall plaza and a mixed-gender prayer area. The new hearing will be January 1.

In a statement that reflected the contempt for the defenders of the halachic norms at the Kosel, the group reportedly said that “If it bothers the ultra-Orthodox to see women, let them go to their synagogues rather than come to pray at the Western Wall.”

Also on Wednesday, in defiance of a ban issued by Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, rabbi of the Kosel, approximately 50 women participated in a Chanukah-candle-lighting ceremony in the plaza.