Women Smuggle Historic Tiny Torah to Western Wall for Bat Mitzvah Ceremony

An Israeli feminist activist group has said it found a way around rabbinic laws that have inhibited women from holding Bat Mizvahs at Jerusalem's Western Wall. Women of the Wall says it held the first coming of age ceremony for a young girl at the holy site today — made possible by smuggling in a tiny 200-year-old Torah scroll measuring just 11 inches.

The Bat Mitzvah service was held for 12-year-old Sasha Lutt, who the activists said is the first girl or woman to read the Torah at the wall since they began their push for gender equality at the site more than 25 years ago.

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The first Torah reading and bat mitzvah in the womens section of the Western Wall— Women of the Wall (@Womenofthewall)October 24, 2014

Mazal Tov Sasha! You made history today and we are so proud of you— Women of the Wall (@Womenofthewall)October 24, 2014

Despite finally receiving permission in 2013 from a Jerusalem court to pray at the site, up until now women had been unable to use a Torah scroll in their worship, a crucial part of an official Bat Mitzvah ceremony. Visitors are barred by the Western Wall Heritage Foundation from bringing the item onto the site, and are instead required to borrow scrolls available for public use, but they are kept on the men's side of the wall where women are not allowed.

The group's aim to host a Bat Mitzvah at the wall also transpired into an ad campaign launched earlier this month to push for increased equality. Women currently hold the ceremony at a specially designated location near the site, while tens of thousands of young boys hold Bar Mitzvahs at the wall each year. Women of the Wall's campaign made it into the spotlight on Monday after dozens of ultra-Orthodox men vandalized buses carrying advertisements that featured young girls standing with a Torah.

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On Tuesday, Women of the Wall's spokeswoman Shira Pruce told VICE News that the group planned to hold the ceremony today, despite the continued issue of bringing in a scroll. At the time, Pruce hinted they had devised a way to get around the regulations that prohibit visitors from doing so and, according to accounts in Haaretz, it appears they managed just that.

The group was sidelined by security as the women entered through the gates to the wall carrying a standard Torah scroll. As is typically done, they were told visitors are not allowed to bring in outside scrolls. The activists even attempted to secure a borrowed scroll to no avail and instead walked inside empty-handed. As the ceremony unfolded the women eventually revealed the tiny scroll they had snuck in prior to the altercation with security guards.

"This morning was historic and emotional for us all. The Torah scroll we used was probably created for just this purpose, for Jews who were banned from publicly celebrating Jewish rituals and ceremonies in the past," the group's executive director Lesley Sachs said in a statement.

Dancing with the Torah in the womens section of the Kotel— Women of the Wall (@Womenofthewall)October 24, 2014

Follow Kayla Ruble: @RubleKB