The ‘Jewish jugglers’ at the Western Wall

I was arrested four times for wearing a tallit at the Western Wall and once for “smuggling” a Torah scroll into the women’s section for our services.

Today, as chair of the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism (IMPJ), I again find myself speaking about the Western Wall – in Israel and around the world. The battle has always been about religious freedom and resistance to coercion. As executive director of Women of the Wall, I fought for women’s right to pray – to wear a tallit, read from the Torah, and raise our voices in sacred space.

In my current role, that struggle has not changed; it has widened. I am not only defending women’s prayer in the women’s section, but also protecting egalitarian prayer at the pluralistic plaza – the very space created through our long campaign. What began as a fight for women’s dignity at the wall is now part of a broader effort to safeguard religious pluralism in the Jewish state.

Those arrests were not acts of rebellion. They were acts of prayer. We wrapped ourselves in tallitot and read from the Torah simply to live fully as Jews. Our persistence helped transform the southern part of the Kotel – once only an archaeological site – into a living space for egalitarian worship.

The renewed attempt to criminalise certain forms of egalitarian prayer does not arise in isolation. It reflects the realities of fragile coalitions and electoral arithmetic, particularly in an election year. In Israel’s parliamentary system, small but disciplined parties can wield disproportionate influence. Sacred space becomes political currency. The Western Wall risks becoming a bargaining chip in negotiations aimed at preserving governing alliances.

Just days before missiles once again began falling on Israel, thousands of liberal Jews worldwide were mobilising – writing to embassies and consulates to oppose this legislation. Then, almost overnight, the Jewish world held its breath as Israel came under attack. Since October 7, Diaspora communities – including here in Australia – have rallied with extraordinary solidarity: defending Israel publicly, supporting families, confronting rising antisemitism.

It is difficult to reconcile that solidarity with the decision of 57 members of the Knesset to advance legislation that marginalises the religious expression of most world Jewry in favour of a small but politically decisive ultra-Orthodox constituency. At a time when Israel depends profoundly on the strength of its global Jewish family, such steps risk sending a painful message – that some Jews count more than others.

The debate over the wall is inseparable from the wider discussion about Israel’s democratic framework. Israel’s courts have long safeguarded minority rights, including religious pluralism and Women of the Wall’s 35-year legal struggle. The 2016 government decision recognising a pluralistic prayer space followed years of civic and judicial advocacy. When the balance between legislative power and judicial oversight shifts, minority protections grow more fragile. The wall thus becomes more than a religious dispute; it is a barometer of democratic resilience.

Nor is this legislation merely symbolic. Efforts to restrict pluralistic prayer at the Western Wall often accompany broader attempts to narrow religious diversity in Israel – affecting recognition of non-Orthodox conversions, limiting public funding for Reform and Conservative institutions, expanding the authority of rabbinic courts, and shaping who the state officially recognises as a Jew for purposes of marriage and public religious life. These are not technical disputes. They determine whether millions of Jews – in Israel and across the Diaspora – experience the Jewish state as inclusive or exclusionary.

Around the world, I describe liberal Jews as “Jewish jugglers”. We hold two truths at once: deep love for Israel and deep concern and responsibility for its moral direction. We reject the false choice between loyalty and critique. Mature love does not demand silence; it demands engagement and courage.

Institutions such as the UIA Progressive Appeal embody that responsibility. Created to strengthen Israel as both Jewish and democratic, it nurtures religious pluralism, equality and Tikkun Olam. Supporting this work affirms that the Jewish state belongs to the full diversity of the Jewish people.

The Western Wall should never be a test of who counts as a Jew. It should be a place where the Jewish people, in all our diversity, feel at home.

And yet, as we debate legislation and principles, our hearts remain with the citizens of Israel living under fire – parents rushing children into shelters, families sleeping in safe rooms, soldiers defending the country we love. The argument over the wall does not weaken that solidarity; it deepens it. Because the Israel we defend in times of danger must also be the Israel we are proud to shape in times of political choice.

We are, and have always been, Jewish jugglers – holding love and responsibility at the same time.

Lesley Sachs was executive director of Women of the Wall for 10 years and is now chairperson of the Reform movement in Israel.