[Avodah] Women Davening with a Minyan

[Shoshana L. Boublil]

> From: "Prof. Levine" <llevine at stevens.edu>
> Subject: [Avodah] Women Davening with a Minyan

> According to Maimonides in his
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mishneh_Torah>Mishneh Torah (Hilkhot
> Tefillah 8.1):
>
> The prayer of the community is always heard; and even if there were
> sinners among them, the Holy One, blessed be He, never rejects the
> prayer of the multitude. Hence a person must join himself with the
> community, and should not pray by himself so long as he is able to
> pray with the community. And a person should always go to the
> synagogue morning and evening, for his prayer is only heard at all
> times in the synagogue.
>
> Now I am sure that women want their prayers to be heard. Therefore,
> it occurred to me,  "Why aren't women who are able to go to shul
> (women without children, women whose children are no longer at home)
> encouraged to go to shul to daven regularly (daily) with a minyan?"

I don't have an answer, only more questions:

Why are women's section in shuls built smaller than the men's so that even 
if the women want to come - there isn't enough room?

Why is the focus of women's prayer davka shacharit (and in some education 
systems also mincha) - but not Ma'ariv, which for a married woman and mother 
is actually the easiest prayer to be constant about?

And I won't even go into the question of women's sections where women have 
no idea when the Aron Kodesh is opened or closed (unless they are at the 
same place as the Chazzan and their siddur states explicitly when it's open 
or closed) - b/c you can't see a thing?

And then you have the women's sections that are used for storage;  as a 
place to have a 2nd minyan for men; or are actually locked unless a woman 
manages to catch the attention of a man and have him open up the women's 
section... I could go on.

In the past, with short lifespans; dangerous neighborhoods and roads and 
other problems, I can see why some of these issues developed as they did.
But things have changed.

WTNs are just one example of women crying out that they too are part of the 
kehilla - a kehilla that appears to vote at times by their actions that they 
don't want the women in the central minyan.

As for the Gr"a's letter to his family, to base actions on it nowadays is no 
better than an excuse to ignore women as equal partners in the Jewish life 
of a community. Things are different.  Times have changed.  Even though it 
is the house that is the true center of worship, the synagogue should not be 
closed to women.

Shoshana L. Boublil