Solidarity prayer called for women who wear tallit

Activists will hold a special prayer at the Western Wall in support of women’s right to wear a tallit.

The prayer, which is being organized by Women of the Wall, will be held Dec. 17 as an act of solidarity with medical student Norfat Frenkel, who was arrested last month at the Wall for wearing a prayer shawl in violation of the dress code.

“With this national grass-roots initiative, we will express our support for the rights of the Women of the Wall to assemble at the Kotel and to pray there with dignity, in safety and in shared community,” Rabbi Jacqueline Koch Ellenson, director of the Women’s Rabbinic Network, wrote in a letter to activists.

Israel’s Orthodox Jewish establishment opposes women wearing the prayer shawl, which traditionally has been donned only by men.

The High Court has ruled in favor of upholding a dress code at the Western Wall that prohibits women from wearing a prayer shawl at Judaism’s holiest site.