As I recall, the Temple was open to ALL who wished to worship the one true God, the God of Israel. There were rules and laws to keep things civil..to keep those who did not know the ways of the Temple to avoid accidentally insulting every one else. Perhaps we should look to that example. No one should be forced to accept another's point of view, but we should always respect that point of view and seek to find common ground to stand upon. Are love and respect not the very core teachings of the Torah?

How was such a narrow minded gentleman selected to a position of authority over the Kotel grounds? The story he selected from the Talmud could be understood a number of ways. I view that generation during the time of the Roman occupation with contempt. It seems to me that if they were so holy, they would not have faired so poorly. Most of those geniuses were slaughtered in the arena. To see modern Rabbis use their wisdom as an excuse to bully others with different opinions is just pathetic. Fire that guy and replace him with a nice person who is educated (with real, useful courses).

The Flintstones look pretty advanced next to you ,...

in rligion i askd my god and my heart notr ask a wall or a city to help m e but i lov jerusalm becouse it is my city where i was born and live till now as i love my parents my sons becouse they are my sons and parents and i worship my god bcouse he is my god and i know he is yours also

a modern state like israel cant tolerate people from yesterday ruling over the whole people!

Either the High Court is the supreme "rule of law," which you would like all sectors of Israeli society to abidy by, or it is an illegitimate cartel rought with corruption. The High Court ruled on the matter, and if you want some fanatics to send their kids to the army based on "rule of law" then some women can wear a tallit at Robinson's Arch. You can't have both.

Leftists and liberal extremist rarely do any introspection. Liberal tyrants' Intolerance in these talkbacks is saying that Torah Jews don't have a right to have their own religious sensibities guarded on what is for them a Holy site-the Holiest site on the planet. And just because there are rules which guard the sanctity of place and the tradition which has been practiced for 3000 + years then that person is automatically labelled a fanatic or archaic or narrow minded. Perhaps the narrow minded ones are you.

With such an attitude of we control it, you don't, then you shouldn't mind if you sons also protect, and even, G-d forbid, die for it. This is a true statement regardless of your divisive argument. It is YOUR zealotry that divides us as a people. The facts are that we can no longer perform many of the 613 regardless of whether a Holy Temple stands on those grounds or not. Our religion must progress. To tell my mother or sister they cannot pray at the wall because it offends you is inhumane. By the way Rabbi, which of those 613tells you to do that?

this fine Rabbi just one upped G-d and took over HIS official earthly residence...and then he is soooo vain as to say why what he (the rabbi) is doing is better than G-d's way! vanity! vanity! vanity!

The wall does not belong to you, not to the Women and not to the Extremists who are not Zionists at all. The wall belongs to all Jews. All Jews can come there and pray. Women can pray as they like, as can men. Ultra religious can come, secular can come, soldiers can come. The wall is for all!!

Wheer exactly did he say that your mother or sister (women) cannot pray at the wall?

I found the point of the article unclear, but the readers' comments even more unclear. The rabbi points out that the Supreme Court ruled there should be separate sections for Orthodox and Reform and that women at the Western Wall Plaza should accept the general guidelines of Traditional Judaism, and wear their tefillin and tallis at Robinson's Arch. He makes a point of bringing less observant groups to the Wall, in spite of complaints from Haredim and wants to keep the Wall from becoming political. For this he's attacked? Is there a rent-a-mob out there posting attacks on anyone called 'Rabbi'?

If playing games with words is what you are all about then you have no serious argument. Rabbi Rabinowitz clearly states “…my firm stance against the attempts by members of the Women of the Wall group to undermine the Supreme Court's ruling, which upheld a government ban on women wearing tefillin or tallit prayer shawls, or reading from a Torah scroll at the Western Wall.” But, for your clarification I say it is inhumane to not allow my mother, sister or my wife to pray as they would like or to read from the Torah at the wall. The good Rabbi was and continues to be a part of the problem, not a solution in dividing Jews. Maybe that satisfies your question, not that I really care very much!

It is the ladies of the wall who wish to deprive the majority women of their desire to pray in their tradition (majority) manner. No one is saying that these women who wish to wear tephilin or read the Torah cant do this in their own minyan = but they do NOT do it - only at the Kotel for the benefit of the media!

Please remember that there is a separate part of the wall for exclusive use by religious modernists. That is the controversy is not about denying modernists an opportunity to pray at the Western wall but to force modernism on the traditionalists by modernist missionaries. And anyway the decision of the Supreme Court should be respected by all law-abiding people but evidently these missionaries are of another kind. My respect to rabbi Rabinowitz.

The First Commandment: " I am the Lord your God, You shall have no other gods before me, You shall not make for yourself an idol." In the Six Day War we heard "The Temple Mount is in our hands!" from Lieutenant General Mordechai 'Motta' Gur called out upon entering the plaza beneath the golden mosque during the Six Day War. It seems he was wrong. The Temple Mount is in the hands of religious fanatics who want to impose Iranian type Ayatollah Rule on Israel!

The Israeli Supreme Court designated an area of the Wall to be used for non traditional prayer. The Orthodox have not attempted to interfered with their activities there at Robinsons Arch, even though they were opposed to prayer in such a fashion. The Reform have refused to accept this compromise, insisting they have the right to impose their unilateral changes on Jewish practice on everyone. So who is being tolerant and who is attempting to inflexible.

The plaza area has all these restrictions which keeps the religious happy. The government set aside the Robinsons Arch area for Women of the Wall and all the other reformists do theoretically the government already does consider both sides. The problem is the liberals are don't want Robinsons Arch where they can be out of sight but pray their way they want everybody to see them at the plaza. Not even about prayer otherwise they would be content with this solution, they are zealots who thinks their way is the only war and they will fight to get it. Women of the Wall is an American feminist group and the bulk of its members are American ( Not Isaeli ) and they are only a tiny group who are trying to feminise religion but because they intentionally provoke the authorities and get themselves arrested they grab all the headlines and so it looks like everybody wants change but strict authorities won't give it. We never hear anything from the traditionalists about the system because they are happy with the way it is but you adopt the liberal rules at the site and they will be the ones grabbing all the headlines. The government needs to do more to promote Robinsons Arch as a reformers section of the Kotel that way everybody will know the score and if a group like WOW starts making trouble at the Kotel the media can be used against them because Robinsons Arch is the well known reformer section.

Despite his protestations to the contrary, Rabbi Rabinowitz has been presiding over the most "fanatical" and "zealous" Kotel authority. It is neither fanatical nor zealous to permit Conservative (Masorti) prayer at the Kotel. The Kotel belongs to all of the Jewish people not just the ultra-orthdox. Current efforts by Rabbi Rabinowitz to bar women from bringing prayer shawls (tallitoth) to the Kotel are extreme and fanatical. Hopefully, the commission led by Ntan Sharansky will recommend and implement a proposal that part of the Kotel (in the main area) be available for egalitarian forms of tefillah. While this would certainly be "tolerant," it would be neither fanatical nor zealous. Rather it would be fair and sensible.

Robinsons Arch is part of the Kotel and that was set asside for the liberals like WOW whilst the plaze is run along the traditional orthodox lines. Right now everybody has somewhere and those rules are enforced. You have orthodox & reform synagogues, they do things different but you respect that. If a reform woman went into an orthodox synagougue and put on a talit she would be asked to take it off or leave the service, she wouldn't say in the reform synague I wear a talit, I am here to pray so you let me put it on and change this oppressive rule instead she accepts not everybody wasnt to do things her way. The plaza is an orthodox synaggue whilst Robinsons Arch is a reform one Anybody can pray at any section they just have to accept there are different rules. You want the Kotel to be a place for all then you have try accomodate everybody, the govrnment has done that but its not satisfied radical liberals like WOW.

Nobody says your mother or sister cannot pray at the wall al that we do say is if they want to pray at the plaza area then they stick to certain rules. What the liberals conveniently neglect to mention is Robinsons Arch which is a section of the wall has been made available to them and they can carry out their services their way. Trouble is liberals don't want to be out of sight out of mind they want a fight so they can tell the world we got it right you should all be enlightened like us. What is wrong with Robinsons Arch for reform and the plaza run the religious way whilst allowing anybody to pray anywhere as long as they respect the customs of that section? Isn't that the fair thing to do?

Rabbi; Your article talks about tolerance. As an Orthodox Rabbi you should find the tolerance to allow all Jews to pray in the way they are most comfortable in peace. By disrupting women who pray with talit is wrong. All Jews around the world support Israel in many ways. It is important for all Jews to pray in peace. Take a step away from the wall and learn and understand why Jews pray differently. Isn't the most important thing that they are Jews and do pray?

HASHEM COMMANDS THE JEWISH NATION TO FOLLOW THE WAYS OF THE TORAH.WE MUST NOT MAKE A MOCKERY OF OUR TORAH AND THE MAKOM KADOSH THAT WE HAVE.WE MUST FIGHT THE WAYS OF THOSE WHO DESECRATE G-D'S TORAH!The Helenists tried to desecrate the honor of the Torah.There is a way to honor HASHEM ..to follow in the ways that HASHEM commanded us. All who attempt to make a mockery of HASHEM's HONOR WE MUST EXPOSE THEM AND STOP THEM .RABBI RABINOVICH HAS A RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT THE HONOR OF HASHEM AND THE SANCTITY OF THE HOLIEST PLACE.Whe does the Israeli gov't protect the Muslims in Har Habayit bu t fail to protect the sanctity of the KOTEL ?What is the hidden agenda???KOL HAKAVOD TO RAV RABINOVICH!!!

This man uses many words, but his words don't contain a message to teach the people anything. He seems to be afraid of the mess. Someone else should take his place at the kotel.

1.The supreme court did not ban WOW members from the kotel nor did they say they can't wear Talisim or Tefillin there. What they said was that because of the sensitivities of some alternate arrangements should be made and the Robinson's Arch should be built up within a years time (this was about 10 years ago). If it wasn't built up then the women were to be accommodated at the Plaza itself. The Arch wasn't built up. No accommodations were made for them at the Kotel plaza. 2. Sobel court ruled they may daven there in tallasim and tefilliin, and with a Torah scroll. The state brought the case and lost to WOW. So as of now, it is perfectly legal for WOW to daven there. They are a pluralistic group, not a reform group.

i just found out that anybody from any religion can visit the western wall. i mean if you guys are okay, theoretically, with say a muslim visiting the wall, why get upset if jewish women want to wear special shawls, tie the box to the head and read from the torah.