For years, liberal and Reform organizations have presumed to speak on behalf of Diaspora Jewry, including American Jews, while advancing their agenda at the Western Wall.
This week, that changed.
A bill was introduced in the Knesset's Constitution Committee that would grant the Chief Rabbinate official jurisdiction over the Western Wall, designating it as a formal holy site. The legislation would prohibit the Women of the Wall from conducting protest activities at the site.
As expected, liberal and Reform representatives appeared at the committee - loudly proclaiming, in the name of American Jewry, that such a move would sever the bond between the Jewish people and their holiest site.
For the first time, they were not the only voice in the room.
"Our voters brought us into the WZO, and it was that representation that gave us the ability to walk into the Knesset and speak on their behalf," said the Eretz Hakodesh faction representative, Rabbi Nechemya Malinowitz, a member of the leadership of Eretz HaKodesh. "Standing before the Constitution Committee, we made a historic declaration: This [Rabbinate jurisdiction] is what American Jews actually want. This is what Diaspora Jewry wants. Stop speaking in our name."
"We are the ones who speak in our name," he said at the committee. "And what we want is a Western Wall that remains kodesh (sacred)."
Also present was Esther Jacobs, who stood before the committee and spoke powerfully in the name of the Orthodox women of Israel, declaring where they truly stand.
For the first time in an official capacity, the authentic voice of American Orthodox Jewry was heard in the halls of the Knesset, standing firm to protect the sanctity of the Western Wall for generations to come.