[Avodah] Women Readers

[Prof. Levine]

At 11:40 AM 4/26/2010, Zev Sero  wrote:

>T613K at aol.com wrote:
>
>>I've never heard of "women's synagogues" -- he may be talking about 
>>the ladies' section of the shul.
>
>With your gerrer background you're probably aware that in gerrer shuls
>the women's "section" is a separate room with a small opening near the
>ceiling communicating with the men's shul.  It seems perfectly fair to
>call that a "beis knesses shel nushim".

First of all, I posted this to Avodah, because I felt it dealt with 
Halacha.  However, since responses to my post have appeared on 
Areivim, I will also reply on Areivim.

Hermann Schwab was most definitely not talking about "a separate room 
with a small opening" when he wrote about women's synagogues.

Dr, Josh Backon sent me the following:

Women 700-800 years ago had their own shuls (see: KOL BO Hilchot

Tisha B'Av Siman 62; Terumat haDeshen Siman 353; Teshuvot Mahari

Weil Siman 32; MAHARIL Minhagim p. 331; MaHaram MiRottenberg

Tshuvot U'Psakim Chelek Alef Siman 557) and more recently in pre-war

Europe had the *zogerke* who lead tefillot for women.  See also: CHID"A

in Maagal Tov p. 104.

Famous women "chazzaniyot" included Dulca the wife of the Rokeach

(R. Elazar from Vermeyza) who wrote a famous dirge on her gravestone;

Richenza who died al kiddush Hashem in Nuremberg in 1298; Orania

from Vermeyza.

By the 15th century, the women sat in the Ezrat Nashim of the men's shul but

had their own leader (Ba'alat ha'tefilla) [see book by Grossman and Haut

"Women and the Synagogue" JPS, 1992].




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