[Avodah] Women Readers

[Arie Folger]

RYLevine asked:
> In his book A World in Ruins Hermann Schwab writes on page 181
>
> "A weatherworn gravestone at Worms tells of the harmonious voice
> of a woman reader. In the early Middle Ages, women were to be
> found at the Reader's desk in synagogues which were separated
> from the men's synagogues."
>
> Does anyone know anything about this? I have never heard of this.

The synagogue in Worms, until the renovation of the 19th century, used
to have fully separate men's and women's sections, connected only by a
small window at a height of about fifteen-twenty feet. There was, I
believe, also a window at shoulder level, but which was generally
closed or almost closed. Visitors to the reconstructed Worms synagogue
can still see pictures of the old setup.

With such a setup, the women heard nothing from the men's sectino, and
instead employed a zugerke or vortzoigerin, i.e., a female prayer
leader whose job it was to make sure that all women were praying at
roughly the same pace as the men. I guess she stood next to the window
between the sections, and could hear where they were through a narrow
opening.

This is documented, for example, in the book In the Palace of teh
King,, a collection of essays on women's prayer, not necessarily by
Orthodox scholars, IIRC.


Kol tuv,
-- 
Arie Folger,
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