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July 23, 2016 / 17 Tammuz, 5776
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Guide Dogs at the Western Wall: Supporting the Blind

Guide dog

In 1993 Israel passed legislation mandating that all public places allow access for guide dogs, unless the dogs disturb the “essence” of the place. Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz prohibited guide dogs from the lower plaza of the Western Wall, in 2009, citing that the dogs impinged upon the “essence” of the Kotel. Recently, unfortunately, a tour group of 60 blind Jews who traveled to the Western Wall were turned away because of Rabbi Rabinowitz’s ruling.

Blindness is already an incredible challenge, one the rabbis equated with death. Why should we deny one who is visually impaired, who relies upon the guidance of a dog, the opportunity to pray because it may cause a slight distraction to another?

While terms such as “low vision” have no standard meaning, the blind and visually impaired usually include those who, even with the best possible correction, have 20/200 or worse vision according to the Snellen scale (i.e., unable to even read the first line of an eye chart). It is estimated that in 2011 there were more than 6.6 million Americans with significant vision loss requiring some kind of assistance, usually a cane or a seeing eye dog.

These Americans face enormous difficulties with daily life. Consider how many activities now require the use of a computer, cell phone, or other visual media devices in order to work or communicate with family and friends. Is it any wonder that more than 4.2 million of those with a visual disability have less than a high school education, 1.8 million are unemployed, and more than 1 million live below the poverty line (31 percent)? These statistics are shocking and reveal the tragic consequences that millions of Americans suffering from visual impairment must endure.

Federal laws covering seeing eye dogs were only enacted in the mid-1980s, guaranteeing some rights in terms of airline travel, housing, and work. There are also many state laws offering different levels of protection above what the federal government guarantees.

The United States could do much more to help. For example, in the United States, all paper currency tends to be the same size, so a blind person must ask someone to make sure what the denomination is before, commonly, deciding to fold each bill in a unique pattern for future recognition. Meanwhile, in the European Union, different denominations of the paper currency (the Euro) are different sizes, so a blind person can learn the size of each. In Canada, paper currency has a small Braille patch that blind people can use to determine the denomination. While these changes might be costly, there are other simple changes that could be undertaken with minimal expense. For example, in the Zürich, Switzerland railroad station, there is a small groove that leads from the entrance to the train platforms, which a blind person can use to easily follow to the area where their train will depart.

A seeing eye dog can be an additional help and great resource, especially in cities where traffic may move at a high rate of speed and listening may not be enough to cross a street safely. These extraordinary animals have an interesting history. Formal use of dogs to aid the blind came about in Germany after World War I, to serve the many veterans who had been blinded by poison gas. By 1929, the first formal training program for guide dogs was established in the United States. Since then, the Seeing Eye, a foundation dedicated to promoting the use of trained dogs, has trained and provided more than 15,000 guide dogs to the visually impaired, including more than 1,700 active guide dogs as of 2012.

A recent story from New York City may help to elucidate the importance of guide dogs to their owners. On Tuesday, December 17th Cecil Williams, a blind man, suffered a fainting spell and tumbled onto subway tracks in Harlem. Orlando, Mr. Williams’, guide dog leaped onto the tracks and attempted to rouse his owner by licking his face, to no avail. With the train rapidly approaching Orlando took up a protective position between Mr. Williams and the train. A transit worker witnessing the event shouted to Mr. Williams to lower his head to the ground, which the man did and only then did Orlando lay down as well. Miraculously, the train passed over the man and his loyal guide dog inflicting only minor injury to Mr. Williams and no injury to Orlando. This incredible story demonstrates the life-saving roles that guide dogs play, on a daily basis, to their owners.

In Israel, the Israel Guide Dog Center for the Blind, founded in 1991, works to provide visually impaired Israelis with guide dogs. The organization trains dogs to respond to commands in Hebrew and negotiate the physically challenging situations typical within Israel; thus far the Center had provided 250 guide dogs to Israelis. One barrier to greater numbers is the time and cost (about $25,000) to train one dog. Since there are 27,000 registered blind people in Israel, including wounded veterans, the need is great.

Rabbi Moshe Feinstein was asked if a seeing-eye dog could come into synagogue. Normally it is not permitted for an animal to enter the sanctuary but Rav Moshe allowed for guide dogs. The rabbi even mentioned a Talmudic story that shows that donkeys came into sanctuaries. “And there is no greater emergency than this, since if we do not permit it, the person will forever miss public prayer and the public reading of the Torah and Megillah.”

Let us follow the path of Israeli Rabbi Benny Lau:

Life in a sovereign Jewish democracy should open the eyes of decisors to the enormous potential for mutual enrichment between the human rights doctrine and the Jewish tradition. Decisors who hold human rights dear will find a way to allow people with disabilities to have access to every place. As this dispute revolves around the edifice comprised of “stones with a human heart,” it is my hope that those supervising the Western Wall plaza will soon find their hearts and minds open to the needs of our sightless brothers.

The Torah commands that we “do not put a stumbling block before the blind.” We must ensure that we build a society that protects and empowers those living with visual impairment. Surely accommodating the blind and their guide dogs at places of worship, including the holiest site for prayer in the Jewish religion, is an aspect of creating a just society.

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz





10 Responses to “Guide Dogs at the Western Wall: Supporting the Blind”

  1. Dan Silagi says:

    I'll take the essence of Labrador Retriever over the essence of Hasid any day of the week, Shabbat included.

    Dogs are Man's Best Friend. Can't say the same for Ayatollah Rabinowitch.

  2. In the Temple the kohanim butchered innocent animals w/ blood galore everywhere even tho according to the Psalmist (mizmor 50) God loathes such sacrifices: "Do I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?" — that was Kosher, but guide dogs are treif — this is a shanda

  3. Myriam Obadia says:

    I cannot understand the turning away of those blind people because of their seeing-eye dogs. Stray dogs and cats pass by the Kotel all night long, their presence for centuries hasn't affected the sanctity of the place. Animals, whether kosher for food or not, are also creatures of Hashem, are they not? Even if the Rabbi were right in forbidding the dogs (I don't think so, but I'm not a Halacha expert), what right did he have to turn away the men? Anyone with a heart should have offered their help in lieu of the dogs' and assist them in reaching and touching the wall. This is callousness at its wost.

  4. guide dogs should always be allowed

  5. Judy Goldring says:

    A gentleman in the Shul that I daven in Brookyn became blind due to illness. He was a talmid chacham, worldy, educated who brought his dog into the Shul, with the approval of the Rabbi. The dog sat patiently under his chair during davening and Torah laining. We all joked that the dog finished the entire Shas together with the men in the morning Daf Yomi. It is a lesson to us all to be open minded and tolerant of those with disabilities.

  6. Guide dogs are more virtuous than most men, so what's the problem? Myriam Obadia is on to something though…if the dog's assistance is not allowed, where are the brothers of the blinded to guide them?

  7. Dogs are best friends…the only specie the good L-rd allowed us to share life with on a 24-hour basis. They know when I am sick or down…they are the gift of the L-rd!

  8. I wish I could "like" this a thousand times!

  9. Fundamentalists are monsters no matter which religion they support. A guide dog is closer to God than the rabbi who turns them away from the Kotel, because the guide dog is doing good for people.

  10. See Section V of http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/english/halacha/jachter_1.htm
    It seems that Rabbi Moshe Feinstein and, at least at one time, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik permitted seeing eye dogs in a synagogue, though other halachic experts did not. The debate surrounds the issue of the sanctity of a synagogue and whether it is parallel to the sanctity of the Temple, which was a space in which dogs were not permitted. Similarly, we would have to discuss whether the Kotel is more similar to a synagogue or to the Temple in this respect. There are ways to argue in both directions and it's not at all a simple halachic issue. However, I agree that some solution should have been made that could accommodate the group. I just would hesitate to condemn Rabbi Rabinowitz before even discussing the halachic issues pertaining to this question and knowing the extent to which accommodations were attempted or offered. From now on, when discussing religious Jewish matters, first (1) give people the benefit of the doubt and (2) take into account Jewish tradition and law before jumping to conclusions.

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