Rabbanit Tzviya Eliyahu, widow of the venerated Rabbi
Mordechai Eliyahu ztz”l, hit hard Thursday at the Women of the Wall and vowed
that they would not be allowed to “desecrate” the Kotel in a provocative prayer
session planned for Sunday.
"This is a very serious matter,” she told Arutz Sheva,
regarding the idea of women's praying with tallit and tefillin, which are
traditionally only worn by men. The Women of the Wall make a point of praying
with these accessories, in a manner that flies in the face of the Jewish
custom, especially as regards the Kotel.
"They have gone completely mad,” she said. “They want
to enter through the back door, but it won't happen. They cannot come with
tallit and tefillin, it's as simple as that. We will not let them do it; they
will not defile the place. It is very bad that the police and courts are
defending them. The public does not agree to this. It is not democracy, it is
democtatorship.”
"If they are Jewish women and not an erev rav of all
stripes and colors, then let them come and pray like everyone, but without
tallit and tefillin,” she said. The expression 'erev rav' refers to Egyptians
and other non-Jews who, according to tradition, joined the Israelites' exodus
from Egypt, and later exerted a negative influence on the nation.
Rabbanit Eliyahu does not accept the claims that the Women
of the Wall are not Reform Jews. “Today they have one foot here and tomorrow they
have the other foot there. If they come with tallit and tefillin and this kind
of nonsense, it is just a provocation. We do not accept this. The Kotel is a
holy place and there is no room in it for Reformism or Reformists.”
She repeated that the Women of the Wall must be prevented
from praying at the Kotel with tallit and tefillin.
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