Israeli police have detained 10 women at one of Judaism’s holiest sites for wearing prayer shawls, which Orthodox tradition sees as solely for men, authorities confirm. Among those detained on Monday at the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City was Susan Silverman, a reform rabbi who is a sister of the famous US comedian Sarah Silverman, and her teenage daughter, police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld has said. Two other US citizens and Israeli members of “Women of the Wall”, a group that campaigns for gender equality in religious practice, were also detained. The group routinely convenes for monthly prayer sessions at the Western Wall, revered by Jews as a perimeter wall of the Biblical Temple in Jerusalem. Some of its members have been detained by police in the past for wearing prayer shawls at the site and released without charge. The Western Wall is administered under strict Orthodox ritual law, which bars women from wearing the religious garb or publicly reading from the holy scriptures. Rosenfeld said the women had acted “against regulations set by the High Court”, citing a decision of a decade ago upholding Orthodox rules at the site to avoid tension between worshippers. The incident highlighted the divisions between the more liberal branches of Judaism and politically powerful Orthodox groups that traditionally limit the role of women in prayer.
