An Evening with Women of the Wall

Come join Hillel UW, JConnect, and New Israel Fund as we meet with Lesley Sachs, Director of Women of the Wall!

Women of the Wall has garnered headlines worldwide for their decades-long struggle to guarantee women’s rights to pray at the Western Wall. Come hear the stories behind the headlines.

The inclusion of the ultra-Orthodox parties in the governing coalition means that attempts to advance religious pluralism and tolerance face stiff opposition. At the same time, public dissatisfaction with the ultra-Orthodox monopoly on life-cycle events and Jewish public life is growing rapidly; for example, over 70% of Israelis support freedom of marriage outside the strictures of the Rabbinate. Bowing to pressure from the ultra-Orthodox wing of his coalition, the Israeli Prime Minister has halted the implementation of the agreement to provide an egalitarian prayer space at the Kotel, ignoring public opinion. Against this backdrop, Women of the Wall continue their monthly egalitarian prayers in the face of ever mounting opposition from the Haredi establishment.