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The Ezrat Nashim () or Vaybershul (), commonly referred to in English as the women's section or women's gallery, is an area of a
The Ezrat Nashim () or Vaybershul (), commonly referred to in English as the women's section or women's gallery, is an area of a synagogue
A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
sanctuary reserved exclusively for women.
The ''Ezrat Nashim'' could be either a separate annex, as observed in synagogues like the Altneuschul in Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
and the synagogue of Worms, or an elevated gallery
Gallery or The Gallery may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Art gallery
** Contemporary art gallery
Music
* Gallery (band), an American soft rock band of the 1970s
Albums
* ''Gallery'' (Elaiza album), 2014 album
* ''Gallery'' (Gr ...
situated within the synagogue sanctuary. If the latter, it is typically located on the west side of the building, though variations exist with some galleries positioned on the north or south sides. In larger synagogues, it is common to find two galleries, one above the other.
In the mid-19th century, Reform
Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill#The Yorkshire Associati ...
synagogues in Germany and Austria introduced separate pews for men and women on the same floor. Later, Reform congregations in the United States introduced "family seating", whereby congregants sit together irrespective of gender. Many Orthodox synagogues built in the 20th and 21st centuries do not have a separate ''Ezrat Nashim'' area, instead partitioning a single floor into men's and women's sections with a mechitza
A ''mechitza'' ( he, מחיצה, partition or division, pl.: , ) in Judaism, is a partition, particularly one that is used to separate men and women.
The rationale in halakha (Jewish law) for a partition dividing men and women is derived from ...
.
See also
*Gender separation in Judaism
In Judaism, especially in Orthodox Judaism, there are a number of settings in which men and women are kept separate in order to conform with various elements of halakha and to prevent men and women from mingling. Other streams of Judaism rarely sep ...
*
*
References
{{Authority control Architectural elements Synagogue architecture