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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoPlainText>“Which then makes me wonder if and why this structure really satisfies anyone's religious needs. To be told: Yes, you can participate, but only if we can prove your participation is in something that doesn't count?”<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>The “if” is answered by the growing popularity of such minyanim, especially on college campuses. The “why”? Well, you’d have to ask the participants. I have. And some have answered that while it “might not count” from a strict halachic analysis (though I think the wording “not count” doesn’t really capture the actual concept), it “counts” as far as participating in an active way in shul davening which, together with layning, aliyot, giving drashot and having a mechitzah down the middle of the shul, has turned them observers into participants. (Which is why I enjoyed the comment in the Jewish Week’s Purim edition about Agudah upgrading the status of women to non-member observers.)<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Joseph <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>