[Avodah] Need for a Mehitza (was Re: [Areivim] Possibly the first film of the Kotel, 1911)

[Prof. Levine via Avodah]

At 01:34 PM 1/8/2017, Harry Maryles wrote:
>You don't need a Mechitza if you are not in a Shul. Kedushas Beis 
>Hakenesses does not apply. There are for exampe no Mechitzos in 
>hotels or catering halls - when at a wedding the men will gather to 
>Daven Mincha or Maariv. There are women in the same room walking 
>about all over in those circumstances.
>
>The question is whether the Kotel Plaza is a Shul or not. At least 
>whether that part of it on that is on the outside That is still 
>unresolved in my mind. (Not that part that is on the inside - that 
>apparently IS a shul).
>
>HM

I am sending my response to Avodah,  because you have raised a halachic issue.

Just because you see things done a certain way (often)  does not mean 
that what is done is correct according to halacha.  At the weddings 
that I have attended, the men go off in a corner or into a hallway to 
daven.  I do not know if this is proper or not.  As far as hotels 
go,  when I have been at a hotel for a weekend there is always a 
mechitza for the davening.

I found the following at http://tinyurl.com/hw4snbk


Davening Without Mechitzah

August 14th, 2012

M'ikar ha-din may someone daven in a place where there is no 
mechitzah (b'ofen that there is no shailo of seeing any ervah of any 
of them women.) What's the makor in halacha for having a mechitzah?

Answer:

The two basic sources are the Gemara in Sukkah (51b) concerning the 
Beis Ha-Mikdash, and the Gemara in Kiddushin (81a) where an anecdote 
is mentioned concerning the separation of men from women at public gatherings.

Rav Moshe Feinstein (1:39) understands that there is full obligation 
to make this separation, including a partition (and not merely a 
separation), and applies it to every gathering where men and women 
are present. In his opinion (based on Rashi and the Rambam) the 
purpose of the mechitzah is to prevent mingling and kalus rosh. 
Others argue that the purpose is to prevent improper thoughts, the 
practical difference being of course the quality of the partition.

There is no formal obligation on davening in a place without a 
mechitzah, so that if one has to daven in a makeshift room, and there 
is no mechitzah, there is no prohibition of doing so.

However, one must not daven in a place where there is no mechitzah on 
a permanent level, for this would imply granting legitimacy to this 
forbidden practice which runs contrary to a well-known halachah.

YL
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