[Avodah] mechitza

[Steven J Scher]

I apologize for the fact that the following post refers back to a 
discussion from so long ago... I started out about 3 months behind in my 
Avodah/Areivem reading (caused mostly by the birth of Malkah Shayna back 
in June).  I am now only 3 months behind, and thought it was worth adding 
to this discussion:

R' Gershon Dubin wrote
> Much more likely that women never even showed up in shul;
> those few who did were probably in a separate room.

To which Akiva Miller responded:
>>I've heard this many times. But it only makes sense to me 99% of the 
>>time.
>>How recent is it that women come to shul for Parshas Zachor and Megillas
>>Esther and Tekias Shofar? It is difficult for me to imagine women 
>>crowded by
>>the doors and windows, when the number of women might be similar to the
>>number of men.


For what its worth, I visited the Hungarian city of Sopron a few years 
ago.  One of the highlights was a shul from the early 14th cen.  The shul 
contained a women's section which was upstairs, and was walled off from 
the main shul downstairs.  There were little slits (much like they used to 
have in castles to shoot out of) for the women to look through.

(The mikvah has also been preserved).


- Steve

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Steven J. Scher              sjscher at eiu.edu         Listen to WEFT 90.1FM
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