Recently I have been following the various progress for Jewish communities throughout Israel and the US. By appealing to the government, the Jewish community created real progress and opened up many holy sites to both men and women in Israel. With the assistance and with what the teams have done, women are no longer segregated in holy sights and have been allowed many of the same rights as men in their religion.

Elated with the progress of their efforts at the verdict I took to celebrating the progress with many women at the Wailing Wall. I was present as the Israeli government made rulings with full religious authority at the Kotel.

I am excited as the new legislation will improve unrestricted access to Orthodox women allowing the two to pray together once again. Women can also wear prayer shawls at bat mitzvahs and bar mitzvahs and celebrate together with the entire family. This practice was discouraged previously and this allows women to be a larger part of major celebrations in their children’s/ families lives.

The new rulings will also allow for visitors to decide if they would like to go to the gender-segregated Orthodox section or go to the newer section where women are not segregated. This can allow visitors to see and pray with traditionalists as well as see a more modern view of Israel.

This new change reflects progressive thinking ideas and suggests that there is definitely more than one way to practice the Jewish faith. I feel as though people like myself and my group that fought for these changes have rewritten history and made a step forward for modernizing the Jewish faith.

I feel as though this is an early step forward to making the Wailing Wall a fully equal place that shows an encompassing connection between the Jewish people as well as the modern equal traditions of today.

With future work like this, we can all work together to grant unsegregated access to holy sites. Through modernization with equality, we can improve peace and acceptance across the world.

Roy Dekel is a businessman, philanthropist and humanitarian. He has a strong connection to his Jewish Israeli heritage and energetically expresses that in the Los Angeles, California community. Roy Dekel also has an interest in childhood quality of life. He advocates for Larger than Life, the Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for children with cancer.

Check back here for more on Roy Dekel’s philanthropic efforts!