self servingly call themselves Jews and demand the rights of those who actually practice the rituals of Judaism. Even the brain bashing and limb braking of the best of Jews Olmert goes to ha Kotel as a fraud not only as a leader of a "democratic" state but of his faith.

If they want to pray, then they can do it as Jews have for thousands of years for free at the Kotel. If, however, they want to conduct some sort of heterodox "services" , then it certainly can't be at the Kotel, and if they have to pay, then they have to pay. It's their choice.

What is this new "halacha" just invented that says males and females MUST pray together? It must come from the same "Torah" that sanctifies gay marriage.

The Conservatives might learn a good lesson from the late Professor Yeshaiyahu Leibowitz. Leibowitz regarded the kotel and other "holy" places as "piles of stones" that have absolutely nothing to do with man's belief in, worship of and relationship with God.

The reason why there is a Halacha to separate men and woman during prayer is for one reason: concentration... when men and woman are together it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to tell you that one cannot concentrate intently to prayer. If the conservative movement is in denial regarding the chemical make up of the human being they might as well go to strip club to pray...

The Conservative Movement has respected the dignity of those who pray in keeping with the Orthodox customs by agreeing to daven at the Robinson's Arch area. How silly that they should have to pay when those who choose to pary at the central portiopn of the Kotel do so for free. Is Israel not as State for all Jews?

Did the Conservative movement in Israel try to resolve this issue quietly or is it being used to grandstand as to how things are so inequitable and that Conservative Jews are treated as second class citizens? I see nothing in the article that indicates that a behind-the-scene resolution was attempted.

Not all conservative "Jews" are halachic Jews- certainly the many shiksa wives and their kids are not. Their "rabbis" do not have smicha and are no more legit than J for J rabbis.

I am disappointed not only in the fact that the Conservatives in Israel must pay to pray at Robinson's Arch, but by all the hateful talkbacks. How is it that some ultra-Orthodox Jews can believe that the Messiah has come (and then died) and everyone is okay with that, but because the Conservatives (and other groups) pray without gender division they are considered not to be Jewish? Do you really think that Conservatives don't acknowledge that there is a potential for distraction when men and women are together? Of course they do. The point is that they are there to pray, not to flirt or gossip.

B"H ... one would figure a discount would at least be warranted at Robinson's Arch. This is just another one of those secular moves to foment dissent among those who still want to pray near the Western Wall. The responses show how it plays all to well into disputes that were resolved already with this solution which is being backtracked on to open old wounds needlessly, kind of like the resolution at Hebron that was backtracked on as well as the education profile that was backtracked on. It is sad when the conservative Jews are charged by the secular government in order to pray. The charge is meant to make Jews jealous of each other and it is a dispicable practice. Now, if this were so equitable, why are the Arabs not charged NIS 30 to pray on top of the mount which is also a tourist site of the secular government, where Jews are not permitted to pray? I'll tell you the answer: the government is not seeking to foment dispute with the Arabs on the mount right now over that, so it is not making moves like that at this point in time. There is the irony: that the secular government loves the Arab prayer on the mount more than it loves the conservative prayer at the Arch in terms of the financial disencentives presented for those publics.

I take severe offense at your high-handed and arrogant statements regarding who or what is Jewish. The fact that our religion is rooted in misogyny should not go unnoticed here (see: "thank g-d for not making me a woman"). Second, the fact that people worship at a wall built by an Idumean tyrant (Herod) 2,000 years ago, is nothing short of bizarre. When it comes to religion, people who claim to know G'd's will are usually the craziest. Your slamming of Conservative Judaism and comparing it to Jews for Jesus is misguided and pathetic.

I'm not orthodox. I attend an orthodox synagogue, but my lifestyle probably most closely resembles conservatism. When I went to the Kotel I had no problem praying separately from the women. If you want to pray at Kotel, respect the orthodox laws and traditions. If you want to be stubborn and insist that you should be able to do whatever you want at holy sites, then thats your own fault.

Conservitive Jews are allowed to pray at the Western Wall just like any other Jew. However, they must respect the norms and standards of the Jewish religion. One of those standards is the separation of men and women during prayer.

if i, as a female jewish tourist from america, goes to the wall to pray and i am by myself, what will happen to me? will i get near the wall? do i have to find a certain entrance? will i have to answer questions about my level of faith? will i have to pay? what do i have to wear? whew. what is going on there?

where in the tanach says the ortodoxes are the wall owners? Slowly slowly they expand the divisions for men and women, taking half of the western wall plaza. Who can explain how minus than 10% of the jews (ortodoxes) can say us how to live and pray? It is not time to show them who are the real jewish mases?

The compromise of having mixed gender minyanim at Robinson's Arch is the best solution to competing needs: preserving the Kotel as a place of worship for all Jews, and the need for Conservatives and Reform Jews to have for their exclusive use. For this compromise to work though, it is unacceptable that they should have to pay a fee to enter their place of worship. Let the State fund it through monies allocated for Religious services and from the tourism budget.

Of course you are allowed to pray there!!! Don't worry! The only point which people are contesting here is that the Conservative movement wants to hold mixed gender services at the Kotel. That is out of the question. Any Jew - or non-Jew - who comes to the Kotel can pray there, whether chareidi, modern-orthodox, conservative, reform or totally unaffiliated. The only point is that men and women cannot be together at the Kotel. And one thing you should consider doing is to wear a skirt, modest clothing. And you don't pay anything to get to the kotel. You go through any entrance, and then you just see where the women go, it's very easy. The main upper kotel plaza is mixed.

and all are part of the whole. The ritual practiced by one set is not "thousands of years old" as #2 says but several hundred. And it evolves over time. The prayer service practiced in 1500 BCE is not something that we would entirely recognize. Israelis, including many in the orthodox camp, owe a huge debt to Conservative Judiasm and increasingly to Reform Judiasm as well. This comes in the form of both material support but political support as well. Many of these people give up many hours of their free time in support of Israel. And when they come to Israel to pray in their particularly Jewish way, then they should be welcomed. At the Kotel and everywhere else. For the rest of you that find it offensive -- get used to it.

If one looks at a range of photos of the Kotel area from before 1948, one can see women of different backgrounds praying there (sometimes in slacks with their heads covered), with no one making a fuss about it. The basic root of the tension is that esstablished orthodoxy insists that present Kotel area, created by destroying existing houses in 1967, has to be a permanent synagogue, and that the resulting synagogue is managed only according to orthodox norms. After the conciliatory compromise of Conservative Jews to use the Robinson's Arch area, it is simply an outrage that they are are required to pay for access to the area.

There is only one true form of Judaism-Orthodoxy with its many manifestations. All others are kosher style or glaat treife. The bulk of support Israelis get from America is from Orthodox and conservative christians. Just go to this years NYC Israeli day parade -its a virtual Orthodox convention. Reform etc are too busy assimilating and having gentile kids to be of much support. "rabbis" of reform ,conservative , Jews for Jesus, humanistic, gay, or reconstructionist, be they male, female or transgendered have an average Torah scholarship of a high school yeshiva student and are illegitimate. But thats ok since their congregrants are lucky to have a 2nd grade level- that is if they are truly Jewish and many are not. The fake quicky marrige conversions are illegit . Moreover , most triefe streams don't call for the return of the Corban- so why would they want to "pray " at the Kotel.

As we are about to celebrate the 58th Yom Haatzmaut of Israel the Jewish and Democratic State, we must not forget that we have a commitment to religious pluralism in our homeland and that means allowing non Orthodox Jews to daven at the Robinson's Arch section of the Kotel at no cost.

As for the "Orthodox vs. Everyone Else" debate, that was not meant to be the point of the article. Nobody is questioning that there are inequalities between the denominations and that each denomination thinks the other is doing something wrong. Location: that's the point in quesiton. For [insert your reason here], the Kotel is used, for free, for Orthodox prayers only. The big question is, what about non-Orthodox prayers? Granted they cannot be at the Kotel, but it is essentially delegitimizing to non-Orthodox worshippers to tell them "Pay for this tourist attraction and we don't care what you do there." This is perfect for the Orthodox because they wish to delegitimize. However, it causes a big stir for the non-Orthodox because they rightly feel pushed off. Whether they have a right to demand FREEdom of religious expression (pun intended) should be the conversation now.

Unfortunately Debra, our faith, or the "Orthodox" version of it, says you are not allowed to pray with men, and you are not allowed to read from the Torah in front of men, and you are not allowed to sing in front of men, and you are NOT allowed to pray at the Kotel with a man. WHY? Because you are a woman. I encourage you to explore Reform Judaism or Conservative Judaism if you value being treated equally as a human being.

ACCORDING TO THE ORTHODOX, THERE IS NO ORTHODOX, ONLY JEWS AND THEY ARE IT. TO SAY "ORTHODOX " MEANS ANOTHER TYPE OF JEW EXISTS. "ORTHODOX " IS A WORD CREATED BY CONSERVATIVES JUST AS "EGALITARIAN " WAS CREATED TO INCLUDE WOMEN.

tHE DESIRE TO PRAY AT THE KOTEL IS NOT ABOUT A DESIRE TO REBUILD, IT IS ABOUT CONNECTING WITH OUR PAST. iN THE TORAH WE READ THAT AS "ADVANCED SCOUTS" CALEB AND JOSHUA VISITED THE CAVE OF MACHPELAH TO CONNECT WITH THEIR PAST.

soon enough if a woman will pay 50 shkel she can join the men in shull. what a jew won't do for money? kesef vzahav mtaher mamzerim.

The fees start at 0800. Let them prove their dedication to God and their faith by getting up early and awakening the dawn - at neitz.

ONLY reason is to let men daven in peace for a while, to not be distracted, and if that is too big a price for women to suffer, then they don't need to come. It is not to make women second class, it is not to demean them, it is simply to leave them alone for a while so they can focus on davening instead of being distracted by women who can fortunately be distracting at the appropriate time, that is how children ultimately are born. You can give the men a break for a few minutes, it won't kill you and if other men are too ashamed to pray at the wall, so they pay to go somewhere else, no one ever said life was fair and it is their choice not to go the men's section. If everyone had liberty to do everything, there would be cheeseburger stands at the wall for the convenience of the less religious.

So a person is more or less "religious" based on how they pray and if they eat a cheeseburger or not? Nothing you do makes a difference in the sight of God, only what you earnestly believe in your heart. So long as your belief in God is strong and right in your heart, then eat all the cheeseburgers you want!! And Bunnie, I would gladly pay 30 shekels everyday if it meant not seeing "holier than thou" people like you.