Women of Wall service quiet, but without Torah scroll

Women of the Wall for a second straight month was refused permission to bring a Torah scroll to the Western Wall plaza for its monthly service.

On Thursday, some 200 participants attended the Rosh Chodesh service marking the new Jewish month of Shevat with little disturbance.

The service was delayed while the participants waited at the Western Wall security entrance to receive permission to bring in their own Torah scroll (sefer torah), the organization said in a statement. The request was denied, as was a request to use one of the dozens of Torah scrolls housed at the Western Wall for public use.

Several Women of the Wall leaders remained outside the Western Wall plaza holding the scroll while the morning service took place.

The group has met for a women’s prayer service at the wall at the beginning of each Jewish month for the past quarter-century. In previous months, thousands of Orthodox girls had demonstrated against the group and blocked it from the women’s section of the plaza.

Women of the Wall has endorsed a plan to move to an expanded section of an area to the south of the Western Wall plaza called Robinson’s Arch that is now used for non-Orthodox prayer should a list of conditions be fulfilled.