The Rabbi, The Pope and the Western Wall

The Western Wall (Kotel in Hebrew) has been a symbol to the Jewish people since the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem which marked the end of the Jewish commonwealth in our land. Even when the State of Israel was reestablished in 1948, Jews could only look from afar toward this site, a retaining wall of the Temple Mount.
 
There are so many stories depicting efforts by Jews to pray there, or to smuggle in a Shofar on Rosh HaShana, during the British Mandate. During Jordanian rule we were barred completely.
 
Of course, once retaken during the course of  the Six Day War, it immediately became a pilgrimage site for Jews the world over. The plaza behind was cleared of homes to create a large space for visitors.
 
A modest Mechizah (dividing barrier) was nearly immediately erected. Even in the sixties, when a Masorti (Conservative) Minyan sought to pray in keeping with their custom, with men and women together - Mayor Teddy Kollek declared the time not yet ripe. We are now forty years later and the idea seems even more distant.
 
The Mechitzah was soon made permanent. Its height raised. Then raised again. Then the entire prayer area was enclosed. Then the prayer area was enlarged and the Mehitzah raised yet again, to its present height.
 
Of course all of this was done without government licenses. But maybe the Kotel Rabbi, responsible for these changes, "answers to a higher authority?" (It should be noted that the office of Kotel Rabbi [today Rav Rabinovitz] does not even exist under Israeli statute. There is a bureaucratic position called "the supervisor of Holy Sites." This has been filled by the Kotel Rabbi who serves a limited group of those who visit the site.)
 
Over the years, the rights of the secular Jews who visit have been diminished. A Bat Mitzvah ceremony would be unthinkable. Modesty demands have been rudely enforced. Women of the Wall have been violently attacked. Masorti Jews, seeking to pray in the very back corners of the plaza area, were subjected to violence on several occasions. The Israel army choir, which includes women,  is barred from singing at the Kotel on Israel Memorial Day for our fallen soldiers.
 
In short, the Kotel has, in effect, become a synagogue for the ultra-Orthodox, and for others willing to abide by their rules.
 
In the interest of peace, and without relinquishing a claim to equal access to the Kotel area, the Masorti Movement has been holding hundreds of Minyanim each year at the southern end of the Western Wall, know today as HaKotel HaMasorti (underneath Robinson's Arch). Indeed this has proved to be a wonderful arrangement, although complete and free access to even this area is not yet allowed.
 
But today we read of yet another insult hurled by those who feel that the Kotel is their own private purview. A headline in today's issue of The Jerusalem Post read, "Western Wall rabbi says pope should not wear cross at site."

Pope Benedict XVI plans a visit to the Kotel this spring. The pope always wears a cross.  He will not be the first pope to visit wearing one. Rav Rabinowitz likened this to "a Jew visiting a church with Tallit and Teffilin."

Of course the Rabinowitz comparison is silly at best, and insulting at worse. Tallit and Teffilin are part of Jewish prayer. The pope is not seeking to offer communion at the Kotel. And I know of no rabbi who has ever been asked to remove his Kippa when greeting the Pope.
Yes, much that is hurtful has been done to Jews in the name of Christianity. But this may not serve as an excuse for Jews to scorn Christian leaders. This is all the more so as we are today seeking to mend the tensions between the Jewish world and the Catholic church.

A learned colleague of mine reminded me of a story.  It seems that back in the 18th century, a Christian asked Rabbi Moses Mendelssohn "how can your religion be correct if my religion is correct?"  His response was that there is one pasture, but many gates. Or as your scripture puts it, "In my father's house there are many rooms."

Let the many "gates" to the Kotel, the "gates of righteousness," be open to all.