More On Mechitzas

I remember that I was on a class trip in elementary school and we had to daven mincha. My class was composed of two types of people, ones who did well at gemara [girls, probably because strangely enough the girls CARED about school. Strange indeed. I married a girl but on condition that she agree that it was OK that I don't care about school] and others who didn't do particularly well at gemara [boys, with a few exceptions. I was NOT an exception:-)]. So we were in this room and the boys stood in the front and the girls in the back and we davened.

I felt very uncomfortable with this arrangement. NO MECHITZA!! Hashem yerachem!! So I found a part of the room that had a slightly elevated piece of wood and stood behind it and considered it a semi-mechitza. I screamed "Shabbos" and threw rocks at the wall and started singing the neturei karta national anthem [בשלטון הכופרים אין אנו מאמינים].

I made up the last part about the rocks.

I might have been frum ...but I was also ignorant. The only place that requires a mechitza is a proper shul. Any other place does not require a mechitza. This is why at weddings the men gather and daven despite the fact that woman are roaming around the very same room. Shiva homes as well don't require a mechitza.

So I tried. Two points for trying:-)!

But not necessary.

To conclude our discussion - a mystery that has plagued the Rabbis for generations: How come the Shulchan Aruch never mentions the need for a mechitza in shul? The source is the gemara in succah about the separation between men and women in the beis hamikdash but nowhere does the gemara or earlier sources [to the best of my knowledge] mention the need for one in a shul.

Interesting.

Would love to hear an answer. I don't have one. [Also a mystery why the Shulchan Aruch doesn't mention the prohibition of lashon hara.]

But OF COURSE a shul requires a mechitza and nobody [excluding those who cut many halachos out of daily practice] disputes that.

REMEMBER!! A mechitza is to separate between men and woman but never should there be a mechitza between you and G-d or between you and your same-gender friend!!:-)

Love and blessings!!:-)