The mechitza (or prayer partition) dates back to the days of the Holy Temple.  It is used as a way of separating men and women during prayer services.  The understanding behind the use of the mechitza is that prayer is something between oneself and G-d, and when men and women can mix freely, as in the marketplace or other public areas, it lessens the spirituality and makes both men and women more aware of one another instead of making them more aware of G-d.  The Kotel is certainly no exception.  As the place where G-d presence is said to come down and dwell in the physical world, it is stressed that the Kotel remain a place of holiness and separation of gender during prayer in order to lessen the separation between G-d and man as well as G-d and woman.

At the same time, the partition can be aggravating for families who bring their children to be bar mitzvah’ed at the Kotel, as well as having other family events there.  Men and women stand on either side of the Kotel with a long opaque partition dividing them, which for mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters, and all others wanting to see or hear the Bar Mitzvah boy read his Torah portion…can create somewhat of a nuisance.

The authorities at the Western Wall have been aware of the situation for quite some time, and they are doing everything they can to remedy it.  They are currently working on creating a one-way see-through mechitza that allows women to see the men’s side.  Although many of these type of mirrors/walls exist, none work in direct sunlight.

They are clearly dedicated to making it happen, but science must make the leap with them.