NEW YORK – After passing a Torah to a member of Woman of the Wall at the Western Wall on Monday, Jerusalem resident Charlie Kalech and Alden Solovy was physically attacked by individuals at the Kotel and then subsequently Mr. Kalech was arrested and denied his civil rights by police. The Rabbinical Assembly (RA), the association for Conservative/Masorti rabbis, and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ) condemned this unacceptable treatment of Mr. Kalech. Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, executive vice president of the RA; Rabbi William Gershon, president of the RA; Rabbi Steven Wernick CEO of USCJ; and Margo Gold, international president of USCJ issued the following joint statement:
“We reaffirm our support for Women of the Wall and for the right of all women, and Jews of all denominations, to pray at the Kotel according to their interpretation of Jewish law and practice, including reading from the Torah. We are outraged by reports that Charlie Kalech, a former employee of USCJ and longtime member of the Conservative movement, was denied medical care and access to his lawyer while in police custody. Those responsible for physically assaulting Mr. Kalech and Alden Solovy should be charged and the charges against Mr. Kalech should be dropped immediately.
“Our tradition teaches that there are 70 faces to Torah -- that there are multiple paths to fulfilling our tradition. Judaism’s historically pluralistic approach to religious practice has made our tradition resilient and helped it thrive despite centuries of adversity.
“The issue of women’s right to pray at the Kotel is emblematic of the urgent need for Israel to fulfill the promise of freedom of religion and conscience, which is enshrined in Israel’s declaration of independence and foundational to Israeli democracy.”