[Avodah] There was no mechitza at the kotel

[Meir Shinnar]

> Rav AKiva Blum
> 
> So it follows that any place that the tzibbur uses permanently for
> davening, automatically has the status of beis haknesess.
> 

Not so pashut.
From a long time ago (mid 70s), when I was the gabbai for the Princeton Yavneh minyan, which used rav Pinchas Teitz zt"l as its posek.
The minyan davened in the upstairs of Stevenson Hall - a kosher dining hall (part of the Princeton official dining system)- it had moved there about a year before I started.  The mechtiza was 10 tefachim high - the psak that was relayed to me in the name of rav teitz was

1) A place that was not initially designated as a bet knesset does not have kedushat bet haknesset - even if aftewards used - as long as it was clear that other uses were still intended.
2) When the minyan moved from the old building, before the first davening, they made sure to have another function first  in that space - and intermittently use that space for other functions.
3)  Therefore, even though the space was being used permanently ( 3x daily..) for tefilla, it did not have the din of kedushat bet haknesset -and therefore one could use a ten tefachim mechitza.

It would seem the kotel would have a similar issue....
(now, rav soloveichik has a psak (given to the Riverdale Jewish Center in the late 40s) allowing for a ten tefachim mechitza in a shul, but for rav teitz the issue was what constituted a shul - and mere use was not enough (or rather, the fact that other uses were deliberately planned and made superceded the mere use)

Meir Shinnar