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A ''mechitza'' ( he, מחיצה, partition or division, pl.: , ) in
Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...
, is a partition, particularly one that is used to separate men and women. The rationale in
halakha ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical comm ...
(Jewish law) for a partition dividing men and women is derived from the
Babylonian Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...
. A divider in the form of a balcony was established in the
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for the Simchat Beit HaShoeivah ceremony, a time of great celebration and festivity. The divider was first established to preserve modesty and
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during this time. During the mid-20th century, a substantial number of Orthodox synagogues did not have mechitzot. However, the
Orthodox Union The Orthodox Union (abbreviated OU) is one of the largest Orthodox Jewish organizations in the United States. Founded in 1898, the OU supports a network of synagogues, youth programs, Jewish and Religious Zionist advocacy programs, programs ...
(OU), the main body of Modern Orthodox synagogues in the United States, adopted a policy of not accepting as new members synagogues without mechitzot, and strongly encouraged existing synagogues to adopt them. Men and women are generally not separated in most
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
synagogues, but it is a permissible option within Conservative Judaism; some Conservative synagogues, particularly in Canada, have separate seating for men and women, with or without a physical partition.
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's Association movement ...
congregations, consistent with the movement's core value of gender equality, do not use mechitzot in their synagogues.


Origin


Talmudic era

Although the synagogue mechitza is not mentioned anywhere in Talmudic literature, there is a discussion of a barrier between men and women, used at the
Sukkot or ("Booths, Tabernacles") , observedby = Jews, Samaritans, a few Protestant denominations, Messianic Jews, Semitic Neopagans , type = Jewish, Samaritan , begins = 15th day of Tishrei , ends = 21st day of Tis ...
festivities in the Jerusalem Temple. The
Amoraic ''Amoraim'' (Aramaic: plural or , singular ''Amora'' or ''Amoray''; "those who say" or "those who speak over the people", or "spokesmen") refers to Jewish scholars of the period from about 200 to 500 CE, who "said" or "told over" the teachi ...
sage Rav explains that the divider originated with a statement of the prophet
Zechariah Zechariah most often refers to: * Zechariah (Hebrew prophet), author of the Book of Zechariah * Zechariah (New Testament figure), father of John the Baptist Zechariah or its many variant forms and spellings may also refer to: People *Zechariah ...
regarding the mourning following the war between Gog and Magog: Rav explained that if such a sad occasion necessitates a separation between men and women, then the Simchat Beit HaShoeivah in the
Temple in Jerusalem The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two now-destroyed religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jeru ...
(a very happy occasion) does as well.Sukkah 51b-52a
/ref>


Medieval period

Meir of Rothenburg (13th century,
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) is reported to have had a separate women's section in his synagogue. Shlomo ibn Aderet (13th century,
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) mentions a women's section in synagogue. The Yu Aw Synagogue in
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, built in 1393, has a separate women's gallery.


Separate seating in synagogue

A mechitza most commonly means the physical divider placed between the men's and women's sections in Orthodox synagogues and at religious celebrations. The idea behind this is twofold. First, mingling of the sexes is generally frowned upon, as this leads to frivolity, which itself may lead to promiscuity. Secondly, even if the sexes are separated, they should not be able to interact to a high degree during a religious service, lest this lead to gazing and impure thoughts. Due to these restrictions, mechitzot are usually opaque (at least looking from the men's side to the women's side). In some synagogues, the mechitza divided the front and back of the synagogue. In others it divides the left and right sides of the synagogue. The latter is often seen as more equal, since the women are not farther away from the service than the men. The women's section of the synagogue is called the ''Ezrat Nashim'' (, women's courtyard) after a similar area in the Temple in Jerusalem. In Ashkenazic European synagogues, the women's section or annex was called the ''weibershul''. Historically, the ''weibershul'' was led by a Firzogerin, a learned woman who would translate the Hebrew liturgy of the main service led by the chazzan into the vernacular. Orthodox Judaism is divided on whether a synagogue mechitza represents binding law or a custom. During the middle portion of the 20th century, there were a substantial number of synagogues which considered themselves Orthodox but did not have one. The influential
Haredi Haredi Judaism ( he, ', ; also spelled ''Charedi'' in English; plural ''Haredim'' or ''Charedim'') consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to '' halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions, in opp ...
Posek In Halakha, Jewish law, a ''Posek'' ( he, פוסק , pl. ''poskim'', ) is a legal scholar who determines the position of ''halakha'', the Judaism, Jewish religious laws derived from the Torah, written and Oral Torah in cases of Jewish law wher ...
(decisor) Moshe Feinstein held that a mechitza is required as a matter of Biblical law, holding that the statement in Zechariah 12:12-14 represents not a prophecy about future circumstances but binding Sinaitic law, Halacha LeMoshe MiSinai, regarding present circumstances. He declared that Orthodox Jews are prohibited from praying in a synagogue without one. Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik held that a separation of men and women is Biblically required, while the physical mechitza was required by Rabbinic decree. These views have gained adherence over the later portion of the 20th century. The
Orthodox Union The Orthodox Union (abbreviated OU) is one of the largest Orthodox Jewish organizations in the United States. Founded in 1898, the OU supports a network of synagogues, youth programs, Jewish and Religious Zionist advocacy programs, programs ...
(OU), the main body of Modern Orthodox synagogues in the United States, adopted a policy of not accepting synagogues without mechitzot as new members, and strongly encouraging existing synagogues to adopt them. In 2002, Rabbi
Avi Weiss Avraham Haim Yosef (Avi) haCohen Weiss ( he, אברהם חיים יוסף הכהן ווייס; born June 24, 1944) is an American Open Orthodox ordained rabbi, author, teacher, lecturer, and activist who led the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale in Th ...
of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, stated that "As an Orthodox institution, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah requires its students to daven in synagogues with mechitzot." The '' Jewish Ledger'' reported that as of 2005, "
Beth Midrash Hagadol-Beth Joseph Beth HaMedrosh Hagodol-Beth Joseph, known locally as BMH-BJ or simply BMH, and for a period after 2012 also known as The Denver Synagogue, is a Modern Orthodox, Zionist synagogue in Denver, Colorado. History Beth HaMedrosh Hagodol (BMH-the Great ...
remains the only synagogue in the
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affiliated with the Orthodox Union (OU) to have so-called 'mixed seating.'" However, in 2015 this synagogue decided to leave the OU, after learning that the OU was planning to expel it from OU membership. Mixed-seating Orthodox synagogues (
Conservadox Conservadox is the term occasionally applied to describe either individuals or congregations located on the religious continuum somewhere between the Conservative and Modern Orthodox wings of American Jewry. The epithet "Traditional" is also spari ...
), which were a prevalent minority as late as a generation ago, have now all but disappeared. The partnership minyan movement, which seeks a greater synagogue role for women within an Orthodox context, requires a mechitza. The
Union for Traditional Judaism The Union for Traditional Judaism, founded in 1984, is a traditional, Halakhic Jewish outreach and communal service organization. It initially called itself "The Union for Traditional Conservative Judaism" but dropped "Conservative" from its tit ...
recently published a viewpoint arguing that a mechitza is not required to have a particular height by either Biblical law or rabbinic decree. Men and women are generally not separated in most
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
synagogues, although it is a permissible option within Conservative Judaism and some Conservative synagogues, particularly in Canada, have one or have separate seating for men and women without a physical partition. Conservative Judaism takes the position that the ''Mechitza'' referred to in Talmud Tractate Sukkah applied only to the festival of Sukkah in the Temple and that its use to separate men and women for synagogue worship and other occasions represents a custom rather than a requirement of core Jewish law, and is subject to contemporary Rabbinic re-examination. Some
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
synagogues (e.g. in Europe and Israel) also have a meḥitza or separate seating sections for men and women without a physical partition. At one point the synagogue in the Jewish Theological Seminary did so.
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's Association movement ...
and Reconstructionist Judaism, consistent with their view that traditional religious law is not mandatory in modern times and a more liberal interpretation of gender roles, do not use mechitzot in their synagogues. This development is historically connected with the United States; the original German Reform retained the women's balcony, although the "curtain or lattice-work" was removed. (Even in Orthodoxy there is a dispute as to whether a balcony requires a curtain.) It has been argued that abolition of the mechitza became a symbol of Reform Judaism and that, correspondingly, opposition to its abolition became a symbol of Orthodoxy.


Proper height of synagogue mechitza

There are different views on the proper height of a mechitzah separating men and women in a synagogue. Differences about minimum mechitza height represent a source of disagreement between more liberal or Modern and more Ḥaredi Orthodox Jews. According to the Shulchan Aruch HaRav, used by Chabad-Lubavitch, a mechitza needs to prevent men from seeing a woman who might be immodestly dressed, and hence a mechitza needs to be as tall as a man, or 6 feet. However, according to Orthodox Rabbi Ahron Soloveichik, a mechitzah need only serve as a halakhic partition, and hence need only be the minimum height for such a partition. Rabbi Soloveichik holds that this height is 10 '' tefachim'' (about 32 inches). These differences reflect a general philosophical difference between Haredi Judaism, which emphasizes strict interpretations in order to prevent possible transgressions, and Modern Orthodox Judaism, which is more likely to utilize leniencies rooted in classical rabbinic sources. The difference has tended to increase the social distance between Haredi and Modern Orthodox Jews, as Haredi Jews who follow the stricter interpretation may find themselves unable to pray in some Modern Orthodox synagogues. As a result, and consistent with the general increasing influence of Haredi interpretations, many synagogues in recent years have raised the height of their mechitzot in order to accommodate members and guests who follow stricter interpretations. In order to accommodate stricter interpretations and provide a way for women to see, many synagogues will make an opaque wall that is 3–4 feet high and add a lattice, screen, one-way glass, or other semi-transparent material above that opaque wall. The design shown above is an example of that design: The etched glass is semi-transparent, while the opaque wall adheres to what the synagogue requires as the minimum height requirement. The Or Torah synagogue in Skokie, Illinois has a similar design.


Mechitza designs

There are different styles of mechitzas, depending on the number of women the synagogue expects to attend their prayer services, how dedicated the congregation is to accommodating women who wish to pray with the congregation, and whether the congregation believes that the purpose of the mechitza is to provide a social separation or to prevent the men from seeing the women. Any of these options can be made so that they go across the length of the room so that men and women are side-by-side or so that they go across the width of the room so that women sit behind the men. Synagogues in which women sit next to the men are generally more concerned with women's ability to join equally in prayer with the congregation. ;Balcony: Balconies with a three-foot wall are themselves traditionally considered fitting mechitzas. In this design, women sit in the balcony and men sit below. This design was common in the 19th and early 20th century, and is common in Europe, including the Shaarei Tikva synagogue in Lisbon (opened in 1904). Examples in the United States include the Bnei Israel Synagogue in Baltimore (opened 1845), B'nai Jacob in
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(opened 1915), Temple Beth Shalom (the Tremont Street Shul) in
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(opened 1925 as Temple Ashkenaz), and the Beth Efraim Bukharian Jewish Synagogue in Forest Hills, New York (70th Avenue). Some of these American examples are modeled after specific European synagogues, others are best classified as vernacular architecture. A Canadian example is the Beth Jacob Synagogue in
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, Ontario. ; Balconies with curtains or one-way glass: More strict congregations add a curtain to the balcony so that men cannot see even women's faces. ; Central partition: A fixed-height gate or planter running down the center of the room, so that women and men both face front side by side. Often these partitions are minimal height (3 feet). In addition to the partition, sometimes the women's section is elevated by about a foot above the men's section. Example of a lower partition with a raised floor is in Anshe Shalom Bnei Israel synagogue in Chicago and Young Israel of Ocean Parkway in Flatbush, Brooklyn. An example of a medium-high partition () without a raised floor is the Adas Israel in
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. An example of a higher partition with a raised floor is in
Mount Sinai Jewish Center of Washington Heights The Mount Sinai Jewish Center (MSJC) is an Orthodox Jewish Ashkenazi congregation in the Washington Heights / Hudson Heights neighborhood, in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The building's main entrance is at 135 Bennett Avenue at the co ...
in
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...
. ; Booth: Synagogues that expect very few women to attend provide a token space that can accommodate about six women comfortably. The space is demarcated by moveable, opaque partitions that are over high. Examples are in the
Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a private Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City."About YU
on the Yeshiva Universi ...
beit midrash, and the Shabbat afternoon service at Young Israel of Avenue J in Flatbush, Brooklyn. In some synagogues, the booth is a supplement to the balcony, to accommodate women who have difficulty walking up the stairs (such as at She'erith Israel Congregation, Glen Avenue,
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). ; Fixed-height opaque wall: Sometimes with a non-opaque curtain, screen, glass, or other material above the wall, which can include: blinds or a curtain that can be opened during announcements or a sermon, etched glass, stained glass, a one-way screen with lights so that women can see through without being seen (e.g. Beth Jacob Shaarei Zion and Suburban Orthodox in Baltimore). : The mechitza at the Bostoner Rebbe's synagogue in
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, is made entirely of panels from the Boston
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(which had been removed from that building due to safety concerns). The Bostoner Rebbe chose these panels because they are one-way glass so the women can see out, but men cannot see into the women's section. Later, the Rebbe's wife put curtains inside the women's section, so that women could not see into the men's section.) ; Curtain: Usually tall or higher, made of opaque or semi-opaque material, held up by poles on stands or a clothesline. This option costs less than the above fixed options and is used frequently by synagogues that wish to use their prayer halls for mixed-sex functions in addition to separate sex prayer. College Hillel Orthodox
minyan In Judaism, a ''minyan'' ( he, מניין \ מִנְיָן ''mīnyān'' , lit. (noun) ''count, number''; pl. ''mīnyānīm'' ) is the quorum of ten Jewish adults required for certain religious obligations. In more traditional streams of Jud ...
s may choose this option because the rooms at Hillel are all used for multiple purposes besides prayer. ; Separate room: The strictest separation has women in a separate room from the men, able to view through one-way glass or an open window from a balcony, or not view at all. Examples of this are the yeshiva Ohr Someach in the neighborhood of Maalot Dafna in
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, where the men sit in a first floor room with a two-story ceiling, and the women are on the second floor with a window overlooking the men's prayer hall. A similar design (men first floor, women second floor) is in 770 Eastern Parkway, the main synagogue for the Chabad Lubavitch movement in
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, and the Main
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Shul in Jerusalem.


Uses unrelated to gender separation


Eruv

In halakhic discourse, "mechitza" can also refer to the boundary walls of an eruv for carrying (to carry within a given area on the Sabbath the area must be entirely enclosed). There are many specific rules for what constitutes a valid mechitza, although the mechitza does not have to be solid. (For example, there are many instances where part of an eruv may be a string run across several poles, and this could constitute a valid mechitza).


Sukkah

The walls of a sukkah are also referred to as a "mechitza" in the Talmud. These walls must be at least ten tefachim (approximately 32") high for the sukkah to be valid.Mishnah Sukkah 1:1


See also

* Gender separation in mosques *
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 ...


Footnotes


References

*Alkalay-Gut, Karen. ''Mechitza''. Cross-Cultural Communications, 1986. *Goldman, Karla. ''Beyond the Synagogue Gallery: Finding a Place for Women in American Judaism''. Harvard University Press, 2000. *Goodman, Marina. ''Why Should I Stand Behind the Mechitzah if I Could Be a Prayer Leader?'' Targum, 2003. *Litvin, Baruch (Editor). ''The Sanctity of the Synagogue: The Case for Mechitzah-Separation Between Men and Women in the Synagogue-Based on Jewish Law, History, and Philosophy''. Ktav Publications Inc. 1987.


External links

{{Halakha Jewish law and rituals Sex segregation and Judaism Synagogue architecture Eruvin Hebrew words and phrases in Jewish law