Bay Area synagogues have joined in the fight to allow women to read from the Torah at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, reports j. weekly. The aim is to inundate the Israeli government with 10,000 images of women studying, teaching and reading from Torah scrolls, which is condemned by the ultra-Orthodox groups that control the Western Wall. "The idea that a woman can read from the Torah everywhere in the world except in the one place where arguably it matters most is astounding," said Beth Sirull, a board member of Women of Temple Beth Abraham in Oakland, which is part of the campaign, called Women of the Wall.

More than 65 women were photographed recently at an event in Los Altos Hills, spearheaded by two local Jewish women, Orna Morad of Palo Alto and her daughter, who say they have both faced harassment at the Western Wall. Other congregations involved include Congregation Beth Israel Judea in San Francisco, the Conservative congregations Beth Sholom in San Francisco, Netivot Shalom in Berkeley and Kol Shofar in Tiburon.