Rosh Pina (ראש פינה) is a lay-led

independent minyan An independent minyan is a lay-led Jewish worship and study community that has developed independently of established denominational and synagogue structures within the organized Jewish community. Some began in the late 1990s and most since the ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

It meets for

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...

morning services twice a month in the

National Museum of American Jewish Military History The National Museum of American Jewish Military History (NMAJMH) was founded September 2, 1958, in Washington, D.C., to document and preserve "the contributions of Jewish Americans to the peace and freedom of the United States... nd to educatethe ...

(NMAJMH). It also meets occasionally for Friday night and holiday services, in addition to organizing social and educational events such as

shabbaton The Hebrew term ''shabbaton'' ( he, שבתון) may be translated into English to mean sabbatical. The concept of a sabbatical year (shmita) has a source in several places in the Bible (e.g. Leviticus 25), where there is a commandment to desist fro ...

im and parties to celebrate

Hanukkah or English translation: 'Establishing' or 'Dedication' (of the Temple in Jerusalem) , nickname = , observedby = Jews , begins = 25 Kislev , ends = 2 Tevet or 3 Tevet , celebrations = Lighting candles each night. ...

Purim Purim (; , ; see Name below) is a Jewish holiday which commemorates the saving of the Jews, Jewish people from Haman, an official of the Achaemenid Empire who was planning to have all of Persia's Jewish subjects killed, as recounted in the Boo ...

and other

Jewish holidays Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or ''Yamim Tovim'' ( he, ימים טובים, , Good Days, or singular , in transliterated Hebrew []), are holidays observed in Judaism and by JewsThis article focuses on practices of mainstre ...

Overview

Rosh Pina's website describes it as "a ''dati'' community built around a common commitment to

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 commandm ...

tefillah Jewish prayer ( he, תְּפִלָּה, ; plural ; yi, תּפֿלה, tfile , plural ; Yinglish: davening from Yiddish 'pray') is the prayer recitation that forms part of the observance of Rabbinic Judaism. These prayers, often with i ...

, and

equality Equality may refer to: Society * Political equality, in which all members of a society are of equal standing ** Consociationalism, in which an ethnically, religiously, or linguistically divided state functions by cooperation of each group's elite ...

. It was founded in 2007 as a

partnership minyan Partnership minyan (pl. partnership minyanim) is a religious Jewish prayer group that seeks to maximize women's participation in services within the confines of Jewish law as understood by Orthodox Judaism. This includes enabling women to lead par ...

in order to provide a Religious environment that was more inclusive of women's participation than traditional Orthodox synagogues.

Services and liturgy

The congregation combines a traditional liturgy with certain prayer leadership opportunities for women, including

Kabbalat Shabbat Jewish prayer ( he, תְּפִלָּה, ; plural ; yi, תּפֿלה, tfile , plural ; Yinglish: davening from Yiddish 'pray') is the prayer recitation that forms part of the observance of Rabbinic Judaism. These prayers, often with i ...

on Friday nights, ''Pesukei DeZimra'', removing and replacing the

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...

in the Ark, and reading from and being called up to the

on Saturday mornings. 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 ...

separating men and women runs down the middle of the room. Its practices are similar to those of

Shira Hadasha Shira Hadasha ( he, שירה חדשה, lit=New Song) is a Jewish congregation in the German Colony neighbourhood of Jerusalem, which emphasizes a more expansive role for women in the synagogue. It founded in 2002 by a group of local residents, in ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

and Darkhei Noam in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Halakhic basis

The practices of Rosh Pina and communities like it are based on an opinion by

Modern Orthodox Modern may refer to: History *Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Philosoph ...

Rabbi

Mendel Shapiro Mendel Shapiro is a Jerusalem lawyer and Modern Orthodox Rabbi. He is the author of a halakhic analysis arguing that women could be called to read from the Torah in prayer services with men on Shabbat under certain conditions. His minority viewpoi ...

, who holds B.A. and M.S. degrees from Yeshiva University and a J.D. from Columbia University, received his smikhah (rabbinic ordination) from Yeshiva University, and now practices law in Jerusalem. In his

Halakhic ''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 commandm ...

(Jewish law) analysis, entitled "Qeri’at ha-Torah by Women: A Halakhic Analysis," he calls upon those times throughout our history when women have received aliyot to (have been called up to) and have read from the

in communal services with men and women present, and carefully examines the circumstances in which this took place. His position and conclusions have subsequently been supported and expanded upon by Rabbi Dr

Daniel Sperber Daniel Sperber (Hebrew: דניאל שפרבר) is a British-born Israeli academic and centrist orthodox rabbi. He is a professor of Talmud at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, and an expert in classical philology, history of Jewish customs, Jewish ...

(Professor of

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 cente ...

Bar-Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, he, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן, ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic i ...

in his article entitled "Congregational Dignity and Human Dignity: Women and Public Torah Reading." He, too, delves into specific cases when

Jewish law ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Judaism, Jewish religious laws which is derived from the Torah, written and Oral Tora ...

permitted and sometimes even required women to be called to and read from the Torah on

in services with men present. Like Shapiro, Sperber is not known a Posek (decider of Jewish law) and this particular position of both of them is a minority view. Rabbi

Gil Student Gil Ofer Student (born August 8, 1972) is the Book Editor of the Orthodox Union's Jewish Action magazine; former Managing Editor of OU Press, and an Orthodox Jewish blogger who writes about the interface between different facets of Judaism, speci ...

has weighed in against the practice, as have rabbis Aryeh and Dov Frimer, who wrote that "these practices are a radical break from the ritual of millennia and have not received the approval of any major posek."

Footnotes

External links

Rosh Pina websiteDarkhei Noam websiteShira Hadasha websiteJOFA partnership minyanim (with minyan links list)JOFA Mixed Torah Reading Articles

Overview

Services and liturgy

Halakhic basis

See also

Footnotes

External links

Further reading