Conference call: "Women of the Wall" chairwoman, Anat Hoffman

Join us by conference call on Thursday, January 21 at 12 noon Eastern time (9 am Pacific) as "Women of the Wall" (WOW) Chairwoman Anat Hoffman discusses the Israeli authorities' recent clampdown on her group's prayer activities at the Western Wall.

Following the detention of WOW member Nofrat Frenkel on November 18, and her own interrogation by the Israel Police on January 5, Hoffman will explain her group's cause, offer her impressions as to why the police have chosen to step up the pressure on WOW, and discuss what Jews around the world can do to help.

(Ms. Hoffman suggests that, if possible, participants view a 5 minute clip from the documentary "Praying In Her Own Voice", directed by Yael Katzir. Click here to watch.)

Background on Women of the Wall:

"Women of the Wall" was founded in December 1988 not as a protest group, but simply as a women's group that wished to assemble as women, pray aloud and read from the Torah at the Western Wall in Jerusalem - just as men are permitted. Facing down ongoing verbal abuse, threats and physical assaults by ultra-Orthodox worshippers, the Women have gathered at the Wall on Rosh Hodesh - the start of each Hebrew month - for over 21 years.

In 2003, after a long legal battle, Israel's Supreme Court banned women from reading from Torah at the Wall - arguing that such action could endanger public order by leading to rioting by the ultra-Orthodox. Since that time, the group has continued to pray within the restrictions imposed by the Court: Praying at the women's section of the Wall ("ezrat nashim") without Torah reading, and moving to an alternative, second-class site away from the Wall, to do the reading there.

In recent weeks, however, even these practices have drawn the ire of Israel's police, who seem to be intent on further restricting the manner in which the Women worship. Their questioning of two WOW leaders has been described by Anat Hoffman as a form of "intimidation".

For more in-depth background, see:
Anat Hoffman's op-ed in the Forward, "What the Women of the Wall Want"
Jewish Women's Archive article by Frances Raday, "Women of the Wall"
"The ‘Crime' of Praying with a Tallit, and a Plea for Tolerance" by Nofrat Frenkel
"Conservatives Protest Israel's Treatment of Women of the Wall"

Background on Anat Hoffman:

Anat Hoffman became Executive Director of the Israel Religious Action Center in April 2002. Anat guides IRAC in its work to promote Jewish pluralism, tolerance, and equality and to combat racism, corruption, and religious coercion. During Anat's tenure, she also expanded IRAC's mission to go beyond the courts and the Knesset, and to engage in helping people directly through social action.

Previously, Ms. Hoffman served as a Jerusalem City Councilwoman for 14 years, carving out a niche for herself as an untiring warrior for justice and equality. She has dedicated her adult life to the Jewish principle of tikkun olam. It is this commitment to social action and justice that has formed her career.

In a city where women are traditionally consigned to a subordinate role, Ms. Hoffman led in the battles for the right of women to pray at the Western Wall and for women's equal pay for equal work. Ms. Hoffman pushed relentlessly for the provision of adequate municipal services for the more than 200,000 Palestinian residents of Jerusalem. She has fought long and hard to see that the powerful Orthodox bloc in the City Council does not dictate lifestyle choices for the secular population of Jerusalem. Significantly, too, in a city split by religious differences, she has fought tirelessly for religious pluralism.

Ms. Hoffman represented the Civil Rights and Peace Movement on the Jerusalem City Council. She specialized in attending to the details of municipal administration, where big decisions are often hidden away in the fine print. In doing so, she became a familiar figure in the Supreme Court, as she pursued her quest for information that the bureaucracy preferred to keep secret.

Anat was born in Jerusalem and in her teens was an Israeli swimming champion. After army service, she received her BSc in Psychology at the University of California in Los Angeles and then pursued graduate studies at Bar Ilan University. Anat was a founding member of Women of the Wall, and she served on the Boards of the Israel Women's Network, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, and many other Israeli organizations for social change.

In recent years, Anat has become a sought-after lecturer, addressing audiences in Israel and in the United States on subjects close to her heart: social justice, religious pluralism, Jewish-Arab coexistence, and equal rights for women and minorities.

To Join the Conference Call Dial (218) 844-0850
And Enter Participant Access Code 388791#