Appeal for calm on Shavuot

NEW YORK, May 28 (JTA) — A group of Orthodox, Conservative and Reform rabbis and educators has issued an appeal for calm at the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Shavuot. Fearful of a repeat of last year, when men and women participating in a non- Orthodox prayer service were attacked by fervently Orthodox Jews, the group, Shvil Zahav, issued a statement Thursday calling for “non-interference” in Shavuot prayers. Shavuot begins Saturday night. Representatives of the Conservative movement in Israel, which organized last year’s service, say nothing official is being planned for this year, but they expect there will be non-traditional services. They have asked for police protection. The call for non-interference comes amid an advertising campaign in the United States and Israel by an Orthodox group, Am Echad — or One People — urging against a non-traditional service, which it said would be “provocative.” “Turning a holy place into a battleground is simply wrong,” according to the ad.