Re: “Three Weddings And A Scuffle” (Between The Lines, Nov. 24):
I’m not a fan of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate at all, but to characterize this [incident at the Kotel] as Reform leaders being “roughed up” during a protest is laughable. They had their ceremony in the egalitarian section and then decided to storm the security gates and force their way through so they could then stage a mixed-gender celebratory dance in the plaza adjacent to the men’s and women’s separate prayer sections.
The Reform leadership … goes out of its way here to be every bit as provocative and insulting as the charedi jerks who shout, blow whistles, scream, etc. The truth is that the Kotel’s prayer traditions are not “charedi” but what the vast majority of religious Jews in Israel adhere to — that includes Modern Orthodox, Mizrachi and Sephardi traditional. Most of us ignore the Chief Rabbinate but that doesn’t mean we want Reform Jewish practices imposed on us, either.
Israel
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