Under Orthodox law, which is observed at the Western Wall and upheld by law, women's public prayer rights are limited--including the ability to wear prayer shawls. According to a spokesperson for the site, wearing a prayer shawl is a right reserved specifically for men.

Susan Silverman told Reuters that "They (police) said 'take off your prayer shawls', and we said 'no'." She criticized the law, comparing it to "spitting on Sinai."  Irrespective of gender, "all Jews are in a covenant with God," she said.

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The feminist group Women of the Wall has been praying at the square for decades, singing aloud, reading from the Torah and wearing prayer shawls. But the Jewish holy site is managed by Orthodox rabbis, who maintain the Wall according to a strict interpretation of Jewish law. These rabbis, in addition to police regulations, have significantly restricted women’s ability to pray at the Wall.

As a result, the Women of the Wall have clashed with Israeli police, been forcibly removed from the square, taken in for questioning and even arrested -- just for expressing their faith.

Both groups have said the ban on women singing and reading from the Torah at the Wall threatens to distance American Jews from Israel, according to the Daily Beast.

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