Orthodox Jews

At the shrine of the Jerusalem Western Wall in Israel,men and women are segregated and assigned separate sections when they pray against the Wall.

This is done according to Orthodox Jewish law. (The Reform Jews are placed in a special lot surrounded by metal barriers and police of Israel some distance from the Western Wall).

Orthodoxal Judaism is Judaism that focuses on a strict adherence to what it sees as the correct interpretation of the Torah and application of the laws and ethics canonized in the Talmudic texts.

Orthodox Judaism is characterized by belief that the Torah and its laws are Divine, were transmitted by God to Moses, are eternal, and are unalterable; that God has made an unbreakable covenant with the Children of Israel; that Jerusalem Temple (the remnants of it is the Western Wall, or Wailing Wall) will be rebuilt.

There are various subgroups of Orthodox: Modern Orthodox Judaism and Haredi Judaism that comprises Hasidic Judaism and non-Hasidic Hareidi Judaism,

Modern Orthodoxy intersects with Religious Zionism and believes in the importance of the modern state of Israel to Judaism. Some Haredim Jews oppose the State of Israel as a secular institution. Despite the differences all orthodox Jewish Orientations revere the Land of Israel, Jerusalem and the Western Wall especially, as sacred. Israel's ultra-Orthodox community is a growing minority, around 13% of the total population, but it is particularly strong in Jerusalem. Due to the electoral system of Israel, that allows coalition governments, orthodox communities are gaining strength not only in Jerusalem, but elsewhere in Israel. Religious politicians have taken major positions on their own: Jerusalem's mayor, Uri Lupolianski, is the first ultra-Orthodox in the job.