Western Wall rabbi sorry for kippah incident

The rabbi of the Western Wall apologizes that a woman was turned away from the holy site for wearing a kippah, but said he was not familiar with the incident.

Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch says in a statement issued Tuesday that if the incident did occur, the response was incorrect.

Rabinovitch also says that the Israel Police have not reported such an incident involving a woman identified by the Women of the Wall group only as Linda, a recently arrived American yeshiva student.

“If there was an incident of this kind, Western Wall officials were wrong to prevent Linda from entering,” the rabbi says. “The Western Wall is open to all men and women. I give my sincere apologies and the apologies of my staff to Linda and hope you return soon to visit the Western Wall.”

— JTA