Rabbi Sergio Bergman denounces Orthodox group attack on Jewish women at Western Wall

Rabbi Sergio Bergman denounced a act of religious intolerance at the Western Wall, when ultra-Orthodox Jews stormed the Western Wall in Jerusalem and attacked a group of women who had gathered at the holy site.

This morning, at the beginning of the month of Tammuz in the Hebrew calendar, the group of women visited the iconic place with the intention of organize a ceremony bat mitzvah Of a girl. The former Minister of the Environment of the Nation participated in this act, as a member of the reformist current and as president of the World Union of Progressive Judaism (WUPJ).

The women were shocked by the assault and involved the destruction of dozens of prayer books. The justification for the vandalism indicated that they were “sex books” that religion forced them to eliminate.

In addition to the broken books, victims reported that there had been insults and shoving. It all happened before the passivity of Western Wall security personnel, who did not prevent violent incidents.

The reason for the untimely attack is due to a demand for equal access to places of worship. Yochi Rapaport, executive director of the organization “Women of the Wailing Wall”, stressed that “the violence we have suffered this morning is a direct consequence of the incitement suffered by pluralist Judaism in recent days” and argued that the episode is due to the fact that who carried out the violence “understand that we are on the verge of reaching our goal of equality for prayer at the Western Wall”.

“They fear losing their monopoly on Judaism. For 32 years, the Women of the Western Wall have been fighting for the liberation of the place, and we will not stop until we have achieved the desired equality, ”added Rapaport, as evidenced by YNET in Spanish.

The ultra-Orthodox protest was called by the organization GOOSE, who not only did not condemn the violence, but also praised the young people who participated in the attack.

“The dangers of the new left-wing government have pushed hundreds of young people out of bed“Celebrated the movement.

Oren Henig, director of Liba, had accused the women of provoking the demonstrators: “Young people came to the Western Wall in front of the provocative and violent group of reformists to clearly express what the majority wants: to stop this evil government which threatens to harm the Lamentations. Wall and the Jewish condition of the state in general ”.

In mid-May, Rabbi Bergman named president of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, which allowed him to become the first leader of the world movement in South America. As stated, the intention is to move immediately to “bold initiatives to generate impact and change”.

The entity brings together an international network of reformed, liberal, progressive and reconstructive Jewish movements, which serves 1.2 million members worldwide, in more than 1,250 congregations in more than 50 countries.

Sergio Bergman is a member of the clergy of the Templo Libertad, the largest and oldest synagogue in Buenos Aires founded in 1862. In 2011, he became the first rabbi elected to public office by the PRO in the city of Buenos Aires, and in 2013 he was elected to represent the city ​​of Buenos Aires in Congress. His last post in public management was that of former Minister and Secretary of Environment and Sustainable Development under the government of Mauricio Macri.

KEEP READING: