Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Partnership Minyanim

Sweetest friends!

Where I come from - women are very religious and seem to be very religiously fulfilled. They have many children whom they raise to be pious, faithful Jews, they are invoved in chesed, they go to shiurim, they daven [particularly at the kotel] they cover their bodies in the summer as an expression of purity and modesty and are fully engaged in the religious life. They REALLY don't want to get aliyos. "Ta'aaaaamooood Shira-Malka-Shprintza-bat-Raizel-Yenta-Bluma Shiiiiishiiiiiii". They often want to make aliya but to Israel and not to the Torah.

Other segments of the population feel that if women don't have an active role in shul they are somehow missing out. The question that must be asked is as follows: Is it G-d whom they are trying to please or is it their own unrequited religious yearnings that they want to fulfill [since I want to be kind I won't ascribe to them less sincere motivations]. If it is the latter then we must remember that it is G-d who is the focus of our service and not ourselves [I think that this point was made by Rabbi Emanuel Feldman in an article in Tradition many years back]. If it is the former then an honest look at the halachic sources is the order of the day.

Here is an article that will interest many....