Recently, I was honored to be named by the BBC as one of the 100 most influential women for 2024. The list highlights extraordinary women whose actions are reshaping the world. Yet, among all of them, one stands out to me in particular — Einav Zangauker, the courageous mother whose strength over the past 14 months has inspired so many, burning with longing for her son Matan, to ignite a massive mobilization for the captives.

As the chairwoman of Women of the Wall, I want to invite Einav to the Western Wall for a moment of hope and sisterhood, to light a Hanukkah candle and share in the light of this festival.

However, there is one place in Israel where hearts remain closed — the Western Wall. The Wall, a national site sacred for prayer and supplication, is where Einav, like many other women, is not welcome.

Unfortunately, whether it is Einav Zangauker, or the mother of a fallen soldier, or the wife of a reservist, or any woman wishing to be present to light the Hanukkah candles, the Kotel rabbi, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch,........

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