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Shmuel Rabinovitch

A man sits beside a locked door of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and shuttered shops in Jerusalem’s Old City, which remains off limits to visitors amid the war with Iran, on March 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
March 29, 2026, 3:02 pm
Under shadow of war with Iran, Jerusalem heads into subdued Passover and Easter
Celebrations canceled and shops shuttered after missile fragments fell in Old City; Home Front Command limits religious gatherings to 50 people
By Melanie Lidman
An activist wears a swimsuit in the women's section at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, as part of a protest against a bill proposed by the Shas party, February 12, 2023. (Oren Ziv/Flash90)
June 1, 2023, 1:21 pm
Woman who stripped down to swimsuit at Western Wall is charged with disturbing peace
Maya Benvenisti, 36, staged protest against since-shelved legislation that would have made it a criminal offense to dress or pray ‘immodestly’ at Jerusalem Old City holy site
By ToI Staff
A policeman detains a youth with a lamb he is suspected of intending to sacrifice on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, April 5, 2023. (Social media; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
April 5, 2023, 1:05 pm
Police detain several people seeking to carry out animal sacrifice at Temple Mount
Cops stop a number of individuals with goats or lambs as they try to bring them to sensitive holy site to perform ancient ritual; act seen as having explosive potential
By ToI Staff
Screen capture from video of Raphael Morris, leader of the Returning to the Mount group. (Channel 13 News)
April 4, 2023, 2:54 pm
Police, top rabbi act to prevent Passover sacrifice on flashpoint Temple Mount
Activist Rafael Morris, head of group calling for slaughtering lambs for festival, is arrested for alleged plan; Western Wall rabbi introduces ban on bringing animals to holy site
By ToI Staff
A woman strips down to a bathing suit at the Western Wall in an apparent protest on February 12, 2023. (Social media: Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
February 12, 2023, 1:52 pm
Woman strips down to swimsuit at Western Wall in apparent protest of modesty bill
Demonstrator detained by police, taken to station for questioning; chief rabbi of site decries ‘despicable act of provocation’
By Judah Ari Gross
Labor MK and Reform Rabbi Gilad Kariv holds up a Torah scroll in the women's section of the Western Wall on December 25, 2022. (Hila Shiloni/Women of the Wall)
December 25, 2022, 11:32 am
Reform rabbi MK brings Torah scroll to women’s section of Western Wall, drawing ire
Labor lawmaker Kariv defends his move, which comes as ultra-Orthodox parties seek to outlaw female-led services at the Jerusalem holy site
By Judah Ari Gross
Members of Women of the Wall gather around a Torah scroll the group smuggled in for their Rosh Hodesh prayers marking the new month at the Western Wall, where women are forbidden from reading from the Torah, December 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
December 8, 2022, 11:16 am
Haredi party said to demand law banning all non-Orthodox prayer at Western Wall
Reform movement and Women of the Wall come out fiercely against proposal to nix all mixed-gender services at the holy site, including in its egalitarian section
By Judah Ari Gross
Tens of thousands gather at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City for final 'selichot' services before Yom Kippur, on October 3, 2022. (Western Wall Heritage Foundation)
October 4, 2022, 11:01 am
Tens of thousands visit Western Wall for final ‘selichot’ services before Yom Kippur
Chief rabbis, Jerusalem mayor preside over late-night prayers ahead of Day of Atonement, which begins Tuesday night; site sees more than 1 million visits over past six weeks
By Judah Ari Gross
Rabbi of the Western Wall Shmuel Rabinowitz at the site's plaza in 2017. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
July 8, 2022, 1:58 am
Western Wall rabbi denounces violence at prayers, urges ‘all sides’ to respect site
Week after Haredim disrupted egalitarian event, Rabinovitch appears to also direct ire at Women of Wall; Reform and Conservative Movements urge Lapid to implement frozen compromise
By Judah Ari Gross
Illustrative: Israeli soldiers at a swearing-in ceremony at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City, on November 13, 2019. (Sara Klatt/Flash90)
May 27, 2022, 3:54 pm
Female IDF officer blocked from leading swearing-in ceremony at Western Wall
Military says officers ‘made error in judgment’ by agreeing to prevent soldier from heading event; pluralism groups accuse body that administers site of ‘working to silence women’
By Sara Serfaty
Rabbi of the Western Wall Shmuel Rabinowitz. May 21, 2017. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
April 15, 2022, 10:15 am
Western Wall rabbi: Bringing sacrifices to Temple Mount is barred by Chief Rabbinate
Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch reiterates ban after several extremists nabbed for planning to sacrifice goat at Jerusalem holy site; also urges Muslim leaders to call for end of clashes
By ToI Staff
Women of the Wall activist Lesley Sachs clutches a Torah scroll while sitting on the floor amid protest at the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Nov. 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
January 9, 2022, 5:28 am
Will the Western Wall compromise deal ever be realized?
With mixed messages from the government and a Supreme Court dragging its feet, the status quo of monthly scuffles at the holy site appears to have no end in sight
By Amy Spiro
Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch testifies before the Meron Disaster Inquiry Committee in Jerusalem, on August 23, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
August 23, 2021, 2:12 pm
Rabbi of holy sites tells Meron probe: I had no authority over Lag B’Omer events
Shmuel Rabinovitch testifies before commission into Israel’s worst peacetime disaster: ‘They didn’t tell us there was an issue with the passageway. Nobody brought it up to us’
By Amy Spiro
Former Israeli Supreme Court head Miriam Naor and other members of the Meron Disaster Inquiry Committee visit the site at Mount Meron where 45 people were killed in a crush during Lag B'Omer celebrations, on August 2, 2021. (David Cohen/Flash90)
August 5, 2021, 8:06 pm
State inquiry into Meron disaster summons its first witnesses
Northern District Police Commander Shimon Lavie and Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, the rabbi of the Western Wall and the Holy Sites of Israel, among six officials called to testify
By ToI Staff
Delegation members from the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain participate in the candle lighting ceremony for the 5th night of Hanukkah at the Western Wall Plaza, December 14, 2020. (The Western Wall Heritage Foundation)
December 15, 2020, 12:21 am
UAE, Bahrain delegations take part in Western Wall Hanukkah lighting ceremony
Social activists and opinion leaders from Gulf nations attend event in Jerusalem’s Old City described by Kotel chief rabbi as a ‘Hanukkah miracle’
By ToI Staff
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