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Michal Fattal / Reuters
Susan Silverman (C), a reform rabbi sits on the ground and prays with her daughter (L) after being asked by Israeli police to remove their prayer shawls at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City on Monday. Israeli police detained the two and eight other women on Monday for wearing prayer shawls, which Orthodox tradition sees as solely for men, a spokesman said. Susan Silverman is the sister of American comedian Sarah Silverman.
JERUSALEM — Israeli police Monday detained 10 women, including the sister of American comic Sarah Silverman, as they tried to pray at a Jerusalem holy site, the head of a liberal Jewish women's group said.
Anat Hoffman, who was among those detained, said the women were stopped because they were wearing religious garb that Orthodox Judaism reserves for men only. The incident occurred at the Western Wall, one of Judaism's holiest sites.
Silverman's sister Susan, a Jerusalem rabbi from the liberal Reform stream of Judaism, was detained along with her teenage daughter.
Sarah Silverman wrote on her Facebook page that she was "SO proud" of her sister and niece for their "civil disobedience." The original post included more explicit language typical of Silverman's humor.
The women belong to "Women of the Wall," a liberal group that goes to the Western Wall each month to worship. They conduct certain rituals, such as wearing prayer shawls and skullcaps and singing out loud, practices reserved for men under strict Orthodox interpretations of Judaism. Hoffman, who was among those detained, is chairwoman of the group.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the women were detained because they acted against court-ordered regulations that bar women from wearing prayer shawls at the Western Wall so as not to offend Orthodox Jewish worshippers. Rosenfeld said the women were released after several hours.
The group has been gathering at the Western Wall for a quarter century, but in recent years its activists have been increasingly detained by police. Hoffman, who chairs the group, said no woman detained has ever been formally charged with any crime.
"This is just attrition," said Hoffman. "They want to the group to become frightened."
The Monday detentions took place after about 300 people gathered at a prayer service at the Western Wall to protest Orthodox control of the site. Among the worshippers in the group, Hoffman said, were about 100 male supporters, including veterans from the legendary Israeli paratroopers' battalion that captured Jerusalem's ancient walled Old City, including the Western Wall, in the 1967 Middle East War.
In December, after Hoffman was arrested under similar circumstances, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the head of the semi-governmental Jewish Agency to come up with solutions that would allow for non-Orthodox women to pray freely at the site.
Hoffman said two of the women held by police were American rabbis from the egalitarian Conservative Jewish movement who missed a scheduled meeting with the Jewish Agency chief to discuss the very issue that landed them in police custody.
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Wake up Mr Dolan. This pope was one of the most sinful, deceiful popes this church has seen in nundreds of years. The fact that the Los Angeles Dioces court ordered the release of thousands of files dealing with pedophile priests that the diocese hid as did the ve to face reaity with the courtsatican, is a disgrace to the roman catholic church. I know there are many people who believe the former cardinal of LA in his pitiful statement of innocence, but the fact that the vatican mandated that the files from around the world dealing woth pedophile preists reside in the vatican vaults leave no doubt that benedict was complicit; guily of obstruction of justice worldwide. The "leader of the church' is himself a sinner who needs penance and a real face to face encounter with the justice system worldwide.
Sister beem - I think you put your post on the wrong article?
This woman rabbi is trying to bridge the gap between the sexes but the old guys are not ready for such a move. They will send her back home ....wake up women.....we are not "equal"......better ? you bet......If I were Jewish, I would give up my religion, just because of that domination by the men. Who needs them ?
And they say Israel is a democracy! Not as bad as wearing a burka but definitely not good.
Women are still sitting in the back of the bus in orthodox Judaism.
The Christians as well.....time for a woman Pope ? yeah...right....
Welcome to Theocracy 101. The ultra-Orthodox (i. e., Hasidim) get to write the rules for all Jews, including regular Orthodox and Reform Jews, regardless if those sects do not agree with the Hasidim. Apparently, they can even have people arrested for not following Hasidic law, even though they don't believe in it. It is a basic rule of theocracy that one religious group gets to write the rules that everyone must follow whether they are part of the sect or not.
But don't think for an instant this is simply a Jewish thing--oh, no indeed! Even while we watch the right-wing Islamist sects forcing sharia law down the throats of moderate Muslims in numerous places, the right-wing "Christian" Taliban in the U. S. salivates to do much the same thing here. It wasn't all that many years ago that Randall Terry proposed that the U. S. scrap its current Constitution and replace it with the Ten Commandments as the basis of our law code, and I don't recall a single solitary conservative who disagreed with him. It should make people very appreciative of secular governance...
Hmmm...the last time they had a big bruhaha at the Temple over religious rites and who should control what, the place ended up burned to the ground...not one stone standing on another. Now they are arguing about a retaining wall...
Good to see that the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appointed Natan Sharansky to broker a compromise between the ultra-Orthodox and the feminists. If Natan can pull it off then he is the person to find a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Shia-Sunni riff and the competing sides of the global warming argument.
They are as bad as the Muslim fanatics. I am glad we live in a secular nation not run by religious zealots. This is what could happen in the USA with the Far Right Wingers who think this country is a Christian based society. They are no better than these Orthodox Jews or the Taliban.
Do you truly believe that they are as bad as the Muslim fanatics? The ultra orthodox Jews are most certainly zealots, and I don't agree with their philosophy, but to compare them to the Taliban is unrealistic. If they were like the Taliban, these women would all be long dead, with none likely even attempting such civil disobedience. No one is using guns, bombs or stones and this has been going on apparently for 25 years. The women are currently being briefly "detained" but not arrested or punished. Again, I'm not agreeing with how it's being handled, but I'm sure there will ultimately be changes made by the government in a peaceful way. Compare that to any neighboring Muslim country.
Nice try Jim, israel is as bad and worse. They just hide it better....
jim don't be a hipocrite. extreme and fanatic are the same in all religions. you are mixing 2 different issues. the taliban which by the way was created by the cia is a fanatic organization, but non the less , they were the government of afghanistan and since they were toppled by u.s , they are fighting and that has nothing to do w/ being fanatic. and also I have to say some fanatic jews are even worse than muslims, you know the ones who think that all non jews are gentiles and were created to serve the jews, jewish sole is supperior to non jews or non jew women are all whore and the one who think that if a jew needs an organ, it is ok to take a non jew organ w/o permission..in general all from af extremism is equally bad. I totally agree w/ bill
Sam: hide what...public stonings or suicide bombings of their own people? I don't think so. rameshm2: I'm not being a hypocrite or mixing 2 issue, bill is the one who compared them to the Taliban. I also see your hatred and ignorance of of the Jews makes any further discussion with you a waste of time.
Israel should be blockaded and have trade sanctions against it, until they get back to the 67 borders. We should not have anything to do with them until they do. I don't want my taxes going there. Not one dime.
A "Theocracy" is a dictatorship, this is just another example of it being one. Arresting people for wearing a shawl, sad. But they have a history of trampling on people, so its not surprising.
Say no to being allies with Israel.
Israel will NEVER retreat to the 1967 borders.
Jerusalem will remain Israel's Eternal capital.
Get used to it.
Right on MoreJustice.
Americans are now aware of what Israel is all about; Nothing but trouble for US.
They are ungrateful, freeloaders who are attempting to destabilize US through jew lobby in the congress.
Due to Hagel confirmation process, everthing came out; People know Israel stinks. We cannot have 0.5% of population make foreign policy and put us on the same side with concentration camp operators..
I'm a reformed jew, most of us think the Orthodox are a bunch of pricks. :)
I'm thinking that the Orthodox Hasidim are a lot like the Taliban in that they may lose influence if they start compromising. So, they become extreme and fanatical.
Remember, Domewars, that Jesus was a reformed Jew also. Look what the Sanhedrin did to him!
Being a misogynist doesn't help your cause. Can't stand the taliban, can't stand republicans, don't put yourself in their class. It doesn't get much lower.
That's what happens when you go against the status quo of a fascist theocracy.
Again the true colors of israel. They hide behind this image they try to protray to the world, as friendly, loving, green, etc.. but the truth: israel is ran by terrorists, by fascists, by racists and the list goes on. No equality between races and genders. Those orthodox nutheads running the country are as bad as binladen and company...
Doesn't it seem that in the Middle East, it doesn't matter whether you are Muslim or Jewish, since none of the women are allowed to pray at a stone wall that is supposed to be the foundation of a temple that was torn down by the Romans over 2,000 years ago? I seriously do not think God lives under that wall, because there are countless churches and synagogues around the world that have his blessing at present. This is simply a matter of another ethnic group suppressing their women's rights to free speech and prayer, even though Israel will put women on the front line in combat. Islam also uses women in combat -- as human bombs and human shields -- but they can't pray in the mosque. Religion is the problem!
Israelis are just Jewish Muslims.
a rabbi and a comedian....their parents must be proud ! is there a doctor in that house ?
Yes, we should all be equal when we practice our silly superstitions.
geez.
Sarah Silverman...her sister....why is this news???????? Nobody cares
Sarah Silverman is hilarious.