Partnership minyan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Partnership minyan (pl. partnership minyanim) is a term used by the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance (JOFA) to describe a prayer group within what it describes as Orthodox Judaism in which parts of services are led by both men and women. Leading parts of services in a minyan ("quorum") is traditionally regarded as a male role. Partnership minyanim are a new and relatively small phenomena within Modern Orthodox Judaism intended to grant more opportunity to Jewish women to participate in synagogue services and rituals.
JOFA defines a partnership minyan as:
- [A] prayer group that is both committed to maintaining halakhic standards and practices and also committed to including women in ritual leadership roles to the fullest extent possible within the boundaries of Jewish Law. This means that the minyan is made up of 10 men, men and women are separated by a mechitzah, and the traditional liturgy is used. However, women may fully participate in kriyat ha'Torah (Torah reading), including layning and receiving aliyot, and may lead parts of the prayer service such as psukei d'zimrah and kabbalat Shabbat, which do not contain d'varim she b'kedusha. <ref>JOFA Partnership Minyan Page</ref>
Professor Tamar Ross explains:
- A small number of communities in the United States and Israel that consider themselves Orthodox (including one Hartman-Halbertal helped to found) have implemented more egalitarian practices in the synagogue. These include the practice of calling women up to the Torah and allowing them to lead those portions of the service that are not halakhically defined as prayer, such as the set of hymns welcoming the advent of the Sabbath. They rely on minority opinions that halakhic problems with men hearing women sing do not apply to synagogue worship. <ref>Ross, Tamar. Expanding the Palace of Torah: Orthodoxy and Feminism. Brandeis University Press, 2004, p. 97. ISBN 1-58465-390-6</ref>
Some partnership minyanim also wait to begin parts of the service requiring a minyan until 10 women as well as 10 men are present. Such a service is also known as a Shira Hadasha-style minyan, after Kehillat Shira Hadasha in Jerusalem, the first such prayer group to be established, in 2001. It is also sometimes called a Minyan Shivyoni Hilchati or Minyan Hilchati-Shivyoni.
Various structural innovations have been devised to permit women to lead prayers while maintaining distinct men's and women's sections, such as separate shtenders (reader's lecterns) and a mechitza going down the middle of the room. <ref>Website of Kehillat Shira Hadasha, Jerusalem</ref>
A small number of partnership minyanim have been established in Israel, the United States, Canada <ref>"Thinking outside the ortho-box", Canadian Jewish News</ref>, and Australia <ref>Website of Shira Hadasha of Melbourne, Australia</ref>.
Contents |
[edit] Support for partnership minyanim
The existence of partnership minyanim was preceded by an opinion by Modern Orthodox Rabbi Mendel Shapiro in 2001<ref>Mendel Shapiro, “Qeri’at ha-Torah by Women: A Halakhic Analysis” (Edah 1:2, 2001) (pdf) </ref>, subsequently joined by Bar-Ilan University Talmud Professor Rabbi Daniel Sperber<ref>Daniel Sperber, "Congregational Dignity and Human Dignity: Women and Public Torah Reading” (Edah 3:2, 2002) (pdf)</ref>, claiming that halakha (Jewish law) permits Orthodox women to be called to, and to read from, the Torah on Shabbat under certain conditions. These opinions rely on earlier authorities including the Magen Avraham.
[edit] Objections to partnership minyanim
[edit] Orthodox objections
The halakhic opinions supporting a partnership minyan and permitting an expanded role for women are developments within Modern Orthodox Judaism that currently represent the views of a small number of Modern Orthodox rabbis, and have not been accepted by any major Orthodox organizations or rabbinical authorities. A number of objections have been raised to various aspects of partnership minyanim, and to the view that their practices are consistent with halakha (Jewish law). Some critics have argued that their claims to be a practice within Orthodox Judaism are illegitimate.
Rabbi Yehudah Herzl Henkin objected to Rabbi Shapiro's claims. In addition to point-by-point halakhic counterarguments, he also said:
- Regardless of the arguments that can be proffered to permit women’s aliyyot [Torah-reading] today— that kevod ha-tsibbur can be waived, that it does not apply today when everyone is literate, that it does not apply when the olim rely on the (male) ba`al qeri’ah and do not themselves read—women’s aliyyot remain outside the consensus, and a congregation that institutes them is not Orthodox in name and will not long remain Orthodox in practice. In my judgement, this is an accurate statement now and for the foreseeable future, and I see no point in arguing about it. <ref>Yehuda Herzl Henkin, “Qeri’at ha-Torah by Women: Where We Stand Today.” Edah 1:2, 2001 (pdf) </ref>
The following is a summary of present-day challenges to the new innovations published in The Forward (September 20, 2002):
- No leading Orthodox institution or halachic arbiter is known to have publicly endorsed the new prayer groups or Shapiro's article. At the same time, the new practices have yet to be condemned by Modern Orthodoxy's leading institutions. But insiders attributed the institutional silence to the trend being in its early stages, and said the changes were likely to be criticized by leading Orthodox rabbis.
- Even Edah director Rabbi Saul Berman, who agreed to publish Shapiro's article in the spirit of open debate, said he could not accept its conclusions.
- When asked if such a minyan would be granted membership in the Orthodox Union, the union's professional head, Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, said that the matter would be referred to outside religious authorities, including the Rabbinical Council of America. The RCA's executive vice president, Rabbi Stephen Dworken, said that if the issue is ever raised, his organization would have to study it. Dworken added that he did not know of any "halachic authority who permits those types of activities."
- Rabbi Yosef Blau, a spiritual adviser to students at Modern Orthodoxy's flagship Yeshiva University, said that Y.U. and its affiliated seminary rarely adopt official policies regulating where students are allowed to worship, though they are expected to follow Orthodox teachings. But, he added, even when top members of the Y.U. rabbinical faculty do come out against a controversial practice, such as women-only prayer groups involving Torah reading, graduates often continue to chart their own course without being sanctioned.
- Blau predicted that the current phenomenon was likely to generate more controversy than women's prayer groups if the practice becomes more widespread. He added that most Y.U. rabbis probably would object. In a thinly veiled reference to Shapiro, Blau said that no widely respected halachic arbiter had endorsed the recent attempts to expand women's roles<ref>*Eden, Ami. "Gender Taboos Fall at New Orthodox Prayer Services", The Forward, September 20, 2002</ref>
Because Haredi and Hasidic synagogues advocate and adhere to a strict separation between men and women in all areas of religious life, including during all synagogue services, and all services are conducted by men only during any minyan, the notions and changes proposed by a partnership minyan is alien to the Haredi and Hasidic communities.
[edit] Liberal objections
Because liturgical roles in partnership minyanim are based on gender, some liberal Jews find partnership minyanim objectionable on egalitarian grounds. The Reform and Reconstructionist movements, as well as most of Conservative Judaism, grant men and women identical roles in their synagogues, services, and leadership.
A test of the Partnership Minyan format at the Wesleyan University Hillel in 2005 led to significant objections among non-Orthodox students, with sophomore Erica Belkin calling it "a test of how far the Jewish community's pluralism and tolerance would extend" and junior Daniella Schmidt stating that "At Wesleyan, we make an effort to provide safe spaces for everyone, including those who prefer orthodox traditions like the mechitza. However, these traditions should not come at the expense of others’ safe space and inclusion." <ref>"Mechitza Tests the Limits of Pluralism at Wesleyan Service" New Voices, November 25, 2005</ref>
[edit] See also
| Writers |
|---|
| Rachel Adler Blu Greenberg Tova Hartman Paula Hyman Judith Hauptman Susannah Heschel Judith Plaskow Tamar Ross Mendel Shapiro Daniel Sperber Trude Weiss-Rosmarin |
| Groups |
| JOFA Shira Hadasha |
| Issues |
| Agunah Jewish view of marriage Minyan Mitzvah Partnership minyan Role of women in Judaism |
| Category |
| Judaism and women |
- Shira Hadasha
- Modern Orthodox Judaism
- Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance
- Role of women in Judaism
- Jewish feminism
- Mendel Shapiro
- Daniel Sperber
- Minyan
- Torah reading
- Jewish services
[edit] References
<references/>
[edit] Further reading
- Gidon Rothstein, "Women’s Aliyyot in Contemporary Synagogues." Tradition 39:2, Summer 2005. (Critical analysis published in the Orthodox Rabbinical Council of America's official journal)
- Eliav Shochetman. Sinay 135-136 (2005), pp.271-336 (Article by Hebrew University Law School professor criticizing Mendel Shapiro's analysis )
[edit] External links
- Kikayon.com (with articles list)
- Minyan Urim (with minyan links list)
- Sources in Hebrew and English by Bar Ilan University Professor Meir Kalech
- JOFA Mixed Torah Reading Articles
- Cherney, Ben. "Kol Isha" JHCS 10, 57-75. (pdf) discussion of halakhic issues with men hearing women sing
- Feldman, Emanual. "Orthodox Feminism and Feminist Orthodoxy". Jewish Action Winter 1999 (pdf) arguments that orthodoxy and feminism are generally incompatible
| Jewish life topics | |
|---|---|
| Birth: | Shalom Zachor | Brit milah | Zeved habat | Hebrew name | Pidyon HaBen |
| Coming of Age: | Upsherin | Wimpel | B'nai Mitzvah | Yeshiva |
| Daily Life: | Ritual washing | Prayers and blessings | Grace After Meals |
| Marriage: | Matchmaking | Role of women | Niddah | Mikvah | Tzeniut | Divorce | Feminism |
| Religion: | 613 commandments | Customs | Torah study: Weekly portion; Daf Yomi | Jewish holidays | Tzedakah (Charity) |
| Religious Items: | Sefer Torah | Tzitzit | Tallit | Tefillin | Mezuzah | Kippah | Chanukkiyah | Shofar |
| Cultural: | Diaspora | Israel | Immigration into Israel | The Holocaust |
| Death: | Chevra Kadisha | Shiv'ah | Kaddish | Tehillim | Yahrzeit | Yizkor |
