The Western Wall belongs to all of us

Two weeks ago, Israel’s President Isaac Herzog delivered a strong and uplifting message to the Jewish school children of Melbourne. He said, “Keep your Jewish hearts on your sleeve and wear your Zionism with pride.”

Our School aims to do this. We foster within our students an informed, joyous and inclusive approach to Judaism and a close and meaningful connection with the land, people and state of Israel.

This approach is deeply anchored in our connection with the Progressive Jewish movement - we strive to provide a values-rich Jewish education that allows for personal connections, informed choice and an egalitarian approach. This is core to our programming and curriculum. It is embedded in our values and the rich, fun, and stimulating Jewish learning and experiences that we gift to our students.

The abiding link between the Jewish people and the land of Israel is evident in our liturgy, poetry, customs and traditions. For many the centre of this link is the Western Wall. Indeed, this has been the site of our yearning and the culmination of our hopes and dreams for centuries.

With this in mind, with genuine heartbreak, our Movement opposes a recent vote by the Israeli Knesset which initiates the pathway to giving the Chief Rabbinate full control over prayer at all parts of the Kotel.

The Chief Rabbinate exclusively supports Orthodox Jewry and rejects the egalitarian and inclusive practices that are reflected in large segments across the Jewish world.

Our Progressive Jewish movement contends that the Western Wall belongs to all of us - not to a particular stream of Judaism. This decision would erode the hard-fought gains that have allowed for egalitarian access to a section of the Wall and would likely not only exclude the capacity for non-Orthodox B’nei Mitzvah, prayer and access but actually criminalise the exercise of non-Orthodox practices.

‍The Times of Israel quoted Anna Kislanski, the CEO of the Israeli Movement for Progressive Judaism who said that “The State of Israel is about to criminalize non-Orthodox Jewish prayer at the Western Wall. What hypocrisy. If such a law were to be passed in the United States, Australia or Britain, and prevent Jews from holding their prayers under threat of imprisonment for up to seven years, the State of Israel would immediately launch a fierce fight against antisemitism.”

In taking a selective and divisive approach to the rights of Jews and in favouring some denominational approaches over others, the Government of Israel risks disenfranchising many Jews.

Each year we end our Pesach Seder with the phrase “Next year in Jerusalem!” It is my great hope that as we say this in the future, in the myriad of diverse settings and approaches adopted throughout the Jewish world, we can do so in the faith that the Israel we sing, pray and learn about will adopt a more egalitarian, inclusive and just approach to Jewish peoplehood.

Shabbat Shalom,
Marc Light, Principal