Jerusalem - In a scathing address delivered today at the Knesset, Israel’s deputy minister of education, MK Rabbi Meir Porush, had strong words for the Women of the Wall and for the decision to create a mixed gender prayer area at the Kosel.
As previously reported on VIN News, the Israeli cabinet approved a plan this past Sunday that would establish an egalitarian prayer area that would be separate from, but adjacent to, the Orthodox prayer area. Porush’s words came just days after MK Moshe Gafni publicly slammed the Reform movement, first reported by Israeli online news Maariv.
“The Reform movement bears the guilt and is responsible for the terrible assimilation that we see in the United States,” said Porush. “They have wedding ceremonies that include priests. This decision by the government gives a sense of victory to the very movement that brings misery to the Jewish nation.”
Porush quoted this week’s parsha, noting the juxtaposition of the commandment for the Jewish people to be a holy and the words “it should be thrown to the dogs” in a single pasuk.
“Rashi says if you are holy and separated from things that are repulsive then you will be mine,” said Porush. “I say this here: those who do not distance themselves from abomination should be thrown to the dogs. This refers to the Women of the Wall. This group should be placed at the edge of our camp, near the Dung Gate, in a desolate corner. That is the place where they belong. They should be thrown to the dogs.”
Yizhar Hess, CEO and executive director of Israel’s Masorti movement responded angrily to Porush’s words.
“Meir Porush, the deputy minister of education, is speaking like the last of the anti-Semites,” said Hess. “Only in Israel could a deputy minister say offensive things against Jews and still be able to keep his job. In any other place in the world they would be clamoring for his dismissal. I call upon the prime minister to remove him from his position and I expect the minister of education to distance himself from these shameful words as well.”
Just days ago came word of an agreement that would allow for the creation of a third section at the Kosel, establishing a mixed gender prayer area and giving the Women of the Wall a place to lead their own services and read from the Torah. The decision prompted a swift response from Gafni, chairman of the Knesset’s finance committee.
“The Reform movement is a group of clowns that are plunging a knife into our holy Torah,” said Gafni. “These clowns will never be recognized, not at the Kotel and not anywhere else.”
