MO Woman

Divrei Torah by Women in the Synagogue

Thanks to former :( blogger Out of Step Jew for bringing this fascinating link to my attention. There was a dicussion thread on a Charedi internet forum called Bechadrei Chadarim about whether or not it is permissable for a woman to deliver a dvar Torah in shul.

There are actually a range of interesting responses, and if you are interested go and have a look. The one which I found most interesting brought the following responsa of the Satmar Rav who said it is totally forbidden for a woman to speak in a shul (see image below). However....

This commenter also wrote the following:

דברי האדמו"ר מסטמר נראה שזה איסור חמור

הפלא הוא כשנפטר האדמו"ר מסטמר אשתו הרבנית הספידה אותו לפני מטתו כחמש דקות בבכיות על רם-קול בהיכל הבית הכנסת הגדול במונראו קרית יואל לפני אלפי חסידים ומאות רבנים. [הייתי שמה ושמעתי אותה]

ויש טייפים מהספידה.

In short: Even though the Satmar Rav said it was strictly forbidden, his wife, the rebbetzin eulogized him at his funeral through a microphone in the heichal of the synagogue (in Monroe, Kiryat Yoel) in front of thousands of chassidim and hundreds of rabbis (the commenter says "I was there and heard her.") And there are copies of her eulogy.

Women and Simchat Torah in the Blogosphere

I am joining a long list of Jewish bloggers (see below) who have recently been discussing women's participation in hakafot on Simchat Torah. In my new community of Ra'anana I had the choice on Simchat Torah morning of attending three different tefillot: 1) a shul which does not permit women to dance with the Torah, 2) a shul which not only allowed women to dance with the Torah but also allowed women on the women's side to lead some of the hakafot alongside the men on the men's side and 3) the local women's tefilla, which of course, had a sefer Torah and women led their own hakafot.

Some friends and I debated whether option number 2 or 3 suited us best (I, like Shanna, just feel too sad to daven in a shul where women cannot dance with the Torah. It truly diminishes the amount of simchat yom tov I feel). Some felt it was better to be together with our families in a shul which allowed us to dance with a sefer Torah and participate in hakafot, where there was a real feeling of community. Others felt more comfortable attending women's tefilla, where women could sing and lead hakafot as loudly as they would like without feeling inhibited nor having to worry about issues of tzniut.

I guess I should just feel lucky that I had such choices!

Here is a list of bloggers who discussed women's participation on Simchat Torah. I hope that reading some of these thoughts will help create sensitivity and understanding about why it is so important for women to have the option to dance with the Torah.

• Devarim
• Mirty's Place
• Barefoot Jewess (via Mirty-thanks)
• The Jewish Connection
• Drew Kaplan's Blog
• The Orthodox Paradox
• DovBear
• Hirhurim

If I missed any, let me know.

Women-Friendly Shuls

The Ramat Gan Museum of Israeli Art will be hosting an exhibit of different architectural designs for shuls, beginning on October 10, according to The Jerusalem Post. The idea behind the exhibit was to encourage architects to think of ways to make women's space in shuls more inviting, and to make women feel more present during davening.

Easy Access for Parents in Shul

This Shabbat was not the first time that I found myself sitting in a seat in shul which was not so easy to get in and out of. Many of my young mother friends try to get seats in the back, or on the end of a row, so as to avoid bothering other women during davening. When your lovely, mostly well-behaved baby, begins squirming and squealing in your arms, you want to know that you can slip out easily.

Hence, I thought I would follow-up on my earlier post, Childcare in Shuls, with another suggestion for how shuls can create a more welcoming and tolerant atmosphere for mothers and fathers of young (read: sometimes noisy) children.

Perhaps shuls could actually reserve a few back row or aisle seats on both sides of the mechitza for parents with young children. This way, people who want to daven in the least disruptive way can try to sit in a different section, and parents who would like to be able to exit smoothly, when their children become somewhat disruptive, can do so easily.

MO Woman's Blog-in-Review

Here are some recent posts from some great blogs which might interest MO Woman readers:

1. Elms In the Yard has an interesting blog (including photos) on the mechitza set-up in the Jerusalem hospital Hadassah Ein Kerem.

2. Orthomom has a post on Drive-By Jewish Mothering, in which she collects anecdotes about other people telling you how to mother.

3. There is an ongoing discussion reviewing the recent Women's Health and Halacha day in Woodmere, NY which can be found on the Mayim Rabim and In the Barren Season blogs.

Thoughts on Shul Mechitzahs

Erica Brown recently wrote an interesting piece about mechitzas on the new "Torah Currents" website. She points out a common problem with shul structures that I have experienced as well. Too often, women who sit behind a mechitza have a hard time hearing the shaliach tzibbur because the men in the back of the men's section are too busy talking noisily. She writes very eloquently and I encourage you to read her article. Although she does not focus on this, I think another way around the problem is to think about the structure of the shul. If mechitzas are set up in a way which helps women feel more included rather than detached, this could make a difference. I also find that when women's sections have such a high mechitza and are further from the rabbi and bimah, the women tend to talk more, posing an even greater challenge for women who want to be part of the davening. Personally, I like the experience of a women's section when it is set up right. In one shul which I daven in, the mechitza is side by side with the bimah in the middle. I am interested in hearing about other mechitza solutions that have worked for other communities.

Big Week for Women and Shul Participation on Blogs

Women and participation in tefilla is a hot topic on blogs this week. For further discussion on women receiving aliyot to the Torah check out the recent postings on Bloghead. Also, Out of Step Jew announced the opening of a women's tefilla group in his hometown of Kfar Saba.

Women's Megilla Readings

As a mother of young children I often find myself attending a second reading of the megilla intended mostly for women in my position. Often the women's side of the synagogue is full, the men's side has a few (if any) attendees yet, the megilla is read by a man. This always strikes me as odd given that the halachic sources seem to allow for a women's megilla reading. Communities that are considering organizing a women's megilla reading this year may find the following resources helpful:

Women's Megilla Readings by Aryeh A. Frimer

Women and Megillah Reading by Rabbi Yehuda Henkin

Both articles address the issue of women reading the megilla for themselves which means that they depart from the communal synagogue reading. However, in the end both writers agree that there are definitely circumstances in which women can and should organize their own readings.

Moreover, JOFA is selling an interactive CD ROM with lessons by women on how to read the megilla and organize your own megilla reading.

Childcare in Shuls: A Checklist

Too many mothers stay home on Shabbat morning or only make it to shul for musaf, because they find that the shuls don’t tolerate or involve their small children inside shul and also don’t provide proper childcare outside of shul. Mothers like me, along with their supportive husbands, who need this situation to change, can suggest some of these ideas to their rabbis or shul boards.

Does your shul provide any or all of the following?

1. Staggered minyanim so that fathers and mothers can alternate between looking after their children and davening.
2. A nursing room for breast-feeding mothers (including a comfortable seat, possibly access to some drinking water, the door should be closeable and the room should not be used for other purposes).
3. Youth groups carefully designed for different age children. The youngest children need close supervision, toys and snacks. There should be age-appropriate davening, divrei torah, brachot and educational stories interspersed with games. This daycare should begin close to the beginning of tefillah time.
4. Enthusiasm to include children in the main tefillah (for instance, allowing children to accompany their father to the bimah for an aliyah, bringing children up to the bimah for Anaim Zemirot and Adon Olam and allowing children to open and close the ark).
5. Sensitivity to children in the way davening is conducted (the entire service should not be unnecessarily extended because children just cannot sit for such long periods of time).
6. A separate minyan (or Musaf service) designated for this part of the constituency, which does not mind the noise generated by children.
7. Not all shuls have the resources to accomplish many of the above suggestions, so another possibility would be to have a toranut schedule, where several parents could alternate running a Shabbat morning program for the children.

If you have other suggestions, feel free to post your ideas.