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Women of the Wall: Claiming Sacred Ground at Judaism's Holy Site

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This book is a collection of stories pertaining to the very public struggle that Jewish women face in an attent to pray together at the Western Wall (Kotel). Women do have their own separate section to pray at the Western Wall, but there are certain activities from which they are prohibited by Israel law. Each story is more powerful and passionate than the next, describing how these women still today are prohibited from praying as a group, praying aloud,singing collectively, using a Toral scroll or wearing talliot at the wall. In fact, the Israeli Court has prohibited such activities by law. These stories set forth in heartfelt detail the contridictions that these women face within their own religion in an attenpt to be a part of the same spiritual groups who are confronting and challenging their very efforts. Women of the Wall (WOW) have been involved in this struggle since l988, and the stories in this book show, with clarity and beauty how these women still today respond to these prohibitions. This is a book that must be read.

These essays express the yearning felt by Jewish women from all walks of life living in Israel and in America to be able to freely participate in traditional prayer at the Western Wall where they experience the all powerful Presence of Shakhina. This reader is in awe of their persistence, commitment and respect for the law in spite of years of harrassment and marginalization.