One of the most profound and beautiful aspects of Jewish tradition is its embrace of disagreement. The Sages of the Talmud saw seventy faces to the Torah, the number 70 expressing a non-specific abundance of understandings. They preserved both prevailing and dissenting opinions together, proclaiming these and these are words of the living God. The disputes of Hillel and Shammai were never meant to silence one another, but to illuminate Jewish life from multiple angles. Even biblical heroes argued with God — Abraham over Sodom and Gomorrah, Moses demanding forgiveness for the people after the Golden Calf. Disagreement is not a flaw in Judaism; it is its lifeblood.

And yet this very tradition — pluralistic, argumentative, vibrantly alive — has largely been abandoned by today’s leadership, which seeks to suppress any Jewish expression that does not conform to its worldview. Instead of these and these they seek to permit and enshrine “only this.”

Nowhere is this more visible than at the Kotel, Judaism’s most significant religious and national site. Over the years, norms governing conduct there have grown increasingly rigid, effectively turning a national space into a narrowly proprietary ultra-Orthodox synagogue. Those who do not pray according to the rules of the Chief Rabbinate, are not merely unwelcome, they are confronted and harassed.

A decade ago, a breakthrough seemed as if it had finally occurred. After lengthy negotiations, Netanyahu’s government adopted the Western Wall Compromise. The idea was simple and reasonable: two prayer plazas — one gender-segregated and one egalitarian — equal in access, funding, and administration. No coercion, no confrontation, just respect for the diversity of Jews and a commitment to pluralism.

But under pressure from its Haredi factions, the government quickly retreated despite its commitment. The compromise was frozen and never implemented. Even the prime minister’s directive to renovate the egalitarian section was quietly ignored. Shortly thereafter, we filed a petition demanding its execution. Nearly ten years have passed. Nothing has moved.

The existing egalitarian plaza is not an integral part of the Kotel. Its entrance is side-lined and obscured; many visitors to the Kotel are unaware it even exists. While the government pours hundreds of millions of shekels into the segregated plaza, the egalitarian section receives virtually no public funding, forcing the Masorti (Conservative) Movement to maintain it from its own limited resources.

The neglect borders on the absurd. A fallen stone eight years ago blocked access to touching the Kotel, as everyone can do in the segregated plaza. One cannot participate in the custom of placing a note in between the stones. Yet the Jerusalem Municipality has refused to permit the damage to be repaired.

Meanwhile, harassment of Women of the Wall continues. Month after month, as they come to pray and hold a women’s Torah reading on Rosh Hodesh, the first day of the Hebrew month, they must struggle for the most basic religious right to observe according to their custom, one recognized and respected by the majority of the world’s Jews.

Contrary to the government’s narrative, the Supreme Court has for years exercised restraint, granting the state ample opportunity to advance a more equitable arrangement. But when the government repeatedly chose inaction, the Court was left with little alternative.

In a hearing last week — the first in three years — the Court instructed the state to do what it had long pledged to do: advance construction permits enabling direct access to the Wall’s stones from the egalitarian plaza and renovate the area to reflect a more dignified, national character.

The government’s response was depressingly predictable: outrage, incitement, denunciations. The Justice Minister issued an indignant statement, neglecting to mention his own past support for the Kotel compromise. Hypocrisy rarely announces itself so plainly.

The Chief Rabbis, for their part, published a ruling declaring “love truth and peace” and asserting that the Western Wall “unites all Jewish communities,” while simultaneously warning that mixed-gender prayer “desecrates holiness.” Unity, apparently, in full Orwellian fashion, means exclusion.

And to top it all – a bill declaring illegal all prayer which is not aligned with the guidelines of the Chief Rabbinate, punishable by up to 7 years in prison – was approved in a preliminary hearing yesterday in the Knesset. No less than 56 MKs supported this outrageous bill.

So here is a simple reminder: those who wish to pray at the Kotel in an egalitarian manner are no less entitled to do so according to their custom and values than those who prefer gender separation. That is how democracy functions. It is also how Judaism has always functioned — making space for diverse interpretations and traditions.

Judaism is not the registered property of the Chief Rabbinate, nor of government ministers. The State of Israel belongs to the entire Jewish people — the majority of whom are not Orthodox and who hold dear the values of freedom and equality.

Equality at the Kotel is not a marginal demand. It is sought by hundreds of thousands of Israelis and millions of Jews worldwide.

The struggle has been long, and it will likely continue. But history, Jewish tradition, and democratic principle all point in the same direction.

Despite the objections. Despite the hatred and incitement.

Equality at the Kotel will prevail.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)