With the sheer numbers of people who go to the Kotel and daven, it is no wonder that the public siddurim there would contain tremendous amounts of germs. The siddurim at the Kotel can be kind of nasty at times, and it is good to know that Rabbi Rabinovitch, rav of the Kotel and other holy places, says that they replace the prayer books fairly often because of the high volume of use, and he intends to increase the frequency.

Why that announcement had to turn into a statement of misogyny I am not quite sure.

When asked about the results of a study that showed the siddurim at the Kotel contain all sorts of germs including strains of e-coli and fecal coliform, Rav Rabinovitch responded that "hundreds of women come each day to pray and they bury their faces in their siddurim and pour out their tears on the pages. It is an emotional sight that is unique to the womens section of the kotel and gives expression to the strength of the emotions of all those praying at the holy site. Not for naught does it say 'because of the righteous women Israel was redeemed'. The power of the prayer of the women is immeasurably greater than that of the men, in the merit of their tears, the emotions and the uplifting of the soul of the women.." (source: Kikar and Ynet)

Somehow, in the same breath as praising women for their devotion in prayer, he blames them for contaminating the siddurim with all sorts of germs including germs normally only found in fecal matter.

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