French, British Jewish Leaders Make Divergent Statements On Kotel Controversy
Image by Getty Images
(JTA) — Leaders of British and French Jews issued divergent statements about the controversy over egalitarian prayer at the Western Wall.
In London, the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Jonathan Arkush, recently condemned the decision of the Israeli government not to implement a plan to expand separate spaces for mixed prayer at the Western Wall.
The suspension “will precipitate disharmony between Jews both in Israel and elsewhere in the Jewish world,” Arkush wrote in a statement, calling it a “desecration of God’s name.”
But his counterpart in France, Francis Kalifat of the CRIF federation, did not criticize the move, instead urging all parties to show sensibility and unity.
In Britain, Reform and Masorti Jews, who practice mixed prayer with no separation between men and women, make up around 27 percent of all registered synagogue members, according to a report published last week. But in France, the community is predominantly Sephardi Orthodox.
Kalifat, the president of the umbrella of French Jewish communities and organizations, stopped short of criticizing the Israeli government’s decision when asked about it earlier this month during an interview with Israel’s i24 news channel. He called for unity among Jews and on people who consider withholding donations to Israel over the decision to “return to their senses.” Kalifat said he personally regrets that “a compromise was not made.”
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
