Halachically unjustifiable?
Our synagogue is a halachic anomaly. A literally-dying congregation, we began counting women in a minyan probably over a decade ago as we started running out of men. But the counting stopped there. Except when necessary. And, more recently, not always when necessary, either--in the past three-six years, we've started to hire female cantors as guest cantors when our regular cantor wasn't available and no one else could substitute, at first with apologies and assurances that no precedent-setting was intended, but in the past couple of years, just as a normal procedure.
Now that you have some background, let me present you with the most interesting recent twist. Only seven men were present for the Torah reading on Shabbat morning, so my husband volunteered to take not only the Maftir aliyah, but also sh'vii (the seventh aliyah, which proceeds it). Not being one to keep my big mouth shut, as my readers certainly know :), I approached the reading desk and advised the cantor not to call my husband for the Maftir aliyah or have him recite a second b'rachah/blessing because it wasn't necessary, since, to the best of my knowledge (at that time--I learned something new from that Maftir link), the whole point of the Maftir aliyah was to give an honor to someone who hadn't already had one. It occurred to me afterward that there was an even more important reason--saying the same b'rachah over the same mitzvah/commandment (in this case, Torah study) twice in a row might be a b'rachah l'vatalah (see the "Safek berakah" paragraph here).
After the service, the cantor, my husband (head of the Ritual Committee) and I discussed the situation further, as it's likely to occur in the future, and I promised the cantor that I would pose a sh'elah (question of Jewish religious law) to my "G-d squad" of rabbis, cantors, and rabbinical and cantorial students whom I've encountered online or in person.
It wasn't until later that I realized what an idiot I was. I couldn't ask the Orthodox folks on my "G-d Squad," because, obviously, they'd say that, without ten men for a minyan, we shouldn't be doing a Torah reading in the first place.
But then I realized that my question would sound equally absurd to a non-Orthodox rabbi. Think about it for a minute. When you go to an Orthodox synagogue and they have a minyan on a day when the Torah is read, everyone who's eligible to be counted in the minyan is also eligible to get an aliyah. Why on earth would the same not be true of a synagogue that counts women in a minyan? How could it be, that a synagogue/chavurah/etc. that has a minyan doesn't have enough people for all of the aliyot?
Is there any possible halachic justification for excluding from eligibility for an aliyah anyone who's eligible to be counted in a minyan?
Now that you have some background, let me present you with the most interesting recent twist. Only seven men were present for the Torah reading on Shabbat morning, so my husband volunteered to take not only the Maftir aliyah, but also sh'vii (the seventh aliyah, which proceeds it). Not being one to keep my big mouth shut, as my readers certainly know :), I approached the reading desk and advised the cantor not to call my husband for the Maftir aliyah or have him recite a second b'rachah/blessing because it wasn't necessary, since, to the best of my knowledge (at that time--I learned something new from that Maftir link), the whole point of the Maftir aliyah was to give an honor to someone who hadn't already had one. It occurred to me afterward that there was an even more important reason--saying the same b'rachah over the same mitzvah/commandment (in this case, Torah study) twice in a row might be a b'rachah l'vatalah (see the "Safek berakah" paragraph here).
After the service, the cantor, my husband (head of the Ritual Committee) and I discussed the situation further, as it's likely to occur in the future, and I promised the cantor that I would pose a sh'elah (question of Jewish religious law) to my "G-d squad" of rabbis, cantors, and rabbinical and cantorial students whom I've encountered online or in person.
It wasn't until later that I realized what an idiot I was. I couldn't ask the Orthodox folks on my "G-d Squad," because, obviously, they'd say that, without ten men for a minyan, we shouldn't be doing a Torah reading in the first place.
But then I realized that my question would sound equally absurd to a non-Orthodox rabbi. Think about it for a minute. When you go to an Orthodox synagogue and they have a minyan on a day when the Torah is read, everyone who's eligible to be counted in the minyan is also eligible to get an aliyah. Why on earth would the same not be true of a synagogue that counts women in a minyan? How could it be, that a synagogue/chavurah/etc. that has a minyan doesn't have enough people for all of the aliyot?
Is there any possible halachic justification for excluding from eligibility for an aliyah anyone who's eligible to be counted in a minyan?
posted by Shira Salamone at 12:28 PM
17 Comments:
stupid is as stupid does. what you describe as going on in your synagogue isn't consistent with any branch of Judaism.
Probably not.
I don't know why it took me so long to figure this out, but it now occurs to me that our shul actually went egalitarian over a decade ago, when we voted to count women in a minyan. We just refuse to admit it.
Shira, your politeness is inspiring. Wish Anon would find a more civil way to express disagreement/disapproval.
I cannot for the life of me understand your shul's position. Oh, wait, yes I can! It's called "they're misogynist jerks." There is absolutely no logical reason why you would count women in a minyan but not allow them to take aliyot. To be clear, the two are not the same thing--the Tosefta (Meg. 3.11) says that women may take aliyot, as may minors. The reasons given for women not taking aliyot are usually either that it violates kevod hatzibur (dignity of the congregation; b. Meg. 23a), kol ishah, and possibly the exemption of women from time-bound mitzvot.
So, here's why all those reasons fail:
1. Violation of kevod ha-tzibur--I don't buy this for an instant. Only a community of misogynists claims that their dignity is besmirched by allowing women to be called to the Torah. The original concept WRT Torah reading is pretty clearly based on the notion that it is embarrassing for women to be able to do something (read torah) that men couldn't (on the assumption that women would only read torah if no man was around who could). If we still hold that, then there's something very wrong with us.
2. Kol ishah--you belong to a Conservative shul. I have never heard of a USCJ shul which has any interest in enforcing any form of kol ishah. Even if they were, there are any number of opinions which hold that kol ishah is not applicable in ritual situations.
3. Time-bound mitzvot--there is some back and forth about whether or not torah reading is a time-bound mitzvah. Whether it is or it isn't, your congregation has already said that it counts women in a minyan, which by default should mean that they consider women to be obligated (or capable of becoming obligated in--are you using Roth-style egalitarianism?) in time-bound mitzvot. So this argument holds no water.
Basically, your congregation is trying to save its butt and get a minyan while simultaneously keeping women away from any type of public role. This is despicable, and utterly illogical from a halachic perspective. If they want to be so makpid about this, then what they should really do is allow women to take aliyot but not count in a minyan, which would at least be logically consistent. This is the stance of partnership minyanim (which, AFAIK, have never claimed that their additional requirement to have 10 women present constitutes any sort of halachic imperative), and it has a history in the Conservative Movement as well. The Law Committee voted to permit women to take aliyot long before the teshuvot endorsing women in a minyan.
Here are a few articles if you want more info:
http://www.jewishideas.org/articles/women-and-men-communal-prayer-book-review
http://www.responsafortoday.com/engsums/3_2.htm
Really, Anon, can't you say what you have to say in a civil manner? What do you expect to accomplish by insulting my fellow and sister congregants?
Regarding "Violation of kevod ha-tzibur," I have 2 points of mine own:
First of all, I must state quite honestly that I have no idea whether the (Conservative) Rabbinical Assembly accepts kavod ha-tzibur as a binding halachic principle, but clearly, even if they do, they don't think it's applicable to women's participation in public worship or they wouldn't be ordaining female cantors!
Second, I think my husband's right when he says that there's more opposition to egalitarianism from our senior women than from our men, so misogyny is not the explanation. My husband's theory is that some of my sister congregants never had the opportunity to learn to read Hebrew, and would be embarrassed to have an aliyah. He thinks that others may feel that such radical changes imply that the way they were raised wasn't good enough, which they may find insulting.
"Basically, your congregation is trying to save its butt and get a minyan while simultaneously keeping women away from any type of public role." The "get a minyan" part is true, but not the rest--women do read Ashrei and English-language prayers and chant haftarot in our shul. The weird part is that we also hire female cantors on occasion. My husband thinks that the senior women find it easier to accept a woman who's been specifically trained for a clergy role than someone like me, who's gotten (something resembling) a Jewish education without benefit of rabbinical or cantorial school.
Thanks for the links. Will give them a look when I have a spare minute between assignments.
That you think the women of your shul want this does not mean that it is not driven by misogyny. Indeed, one of the key ways in which oppression manifests itself is by members of an oppressed group internalizing the stigmatization and prejudices of their external oppressors. (This is classic Frantz Fanon.) In other words, yes, your co-congregants are being misogynistic, and this includes the women.
Nor is the ability of women to recite Ashrei, English prayers, or haftarah really a claim towards your shul's inclusion of women. Ashrei and the things which are typically done in English in a Conservative synagogue are all also regularly recited by children. (And none of them constitute divre bikedusha). Placing adults at the level of children is hardly encouraging. The haftarah is another case in which your shul seems to have no halachic grounding (the Ran holds that the ability for anyone to take an aliyah extends to the haftarah, so clearly women should be allowed to read haftarah, because there's no legitimate reason to bar women from reading Torah), though it has a cultural grounding in the history of benot mitzvah being allowed to read haftarah but not Torah, starting in the 1920s and going through maybe the 1980s. Also, given what you say about your congregation, are any women other than you reading haftarah?
If your analygis of the reasoning behind the anti-egal women's stance is correct, then that serves to show that your congregation is allowing structural misogyny to prevent women from feeling empowered to stick up for themselves. In other words, if women feel they can't/shouldn't demand aliyot because they don't know how to take an aliyah (though that's a little strange--how many incompetent people have we all seen struggle to barely mumble through transliteration, utterly ignorant of the brachot? I have seen people leave off entire words, with nary a peep from the congregation), then the people who do know how to do it ought to be teaching them, and the fact that they are not implies that they are somehow happy with the status quo and want to keep it that way. After all, to hear you talk about it, most of the men in your congregation are also totally and utterly ignorant, yet they have all this entitlement. Why isn't that a problem?
Why don't you lead a revolution? If you think the other women are so uncomfortable with your knowledge, then why not share it and put all of you on an even playing field? Announce that after kiddush, you're having a get-together to learn about the brachot for taking an aliyah. Or on how to read Hebrew, even if just phonetically. Or how to leyn. And sneak in some consciousness-raising. I read stories all the time about women in their 80s and 90s having adult bat mitzvahs. It's possible. It can happen, but it's not going to happen while you sit back and don't do anything productive to change it.
Nope. I call it like I see it. And it's stupid. It's what happens when you have a community (barely) where the blind lead the blind. There's a reason even the non-Orthodox seminaries have lengthy programs to become a rabbi, so they might actually learn something (not much, but something). That you are putting it out to the internet suggests it might be time to disband.
Anon of May 22 and Anon of May 23 are not the same person, as a heads up. Anyway, you might try this website as a way to help your congregants learn brachot and how to lead davening: http://www.sidduraudio.com/
Alternatively, there are probably a lot of shuls in NYC that have old bar/bat mitzvah tapes that they're not using now that people have transitioned to CD/MP3. You might try calling some up and asking if they'd donate to some senior citizens who need some learning materials.
"That you think the women of your shul want this does not mean that it is not driven by misogyny. Indeed, one of the key ways in which oppression manifests itself is by members of an oppressed group internalizing the stigmatization and prejudices of their external oppressors."
I'll have to think about that one.
"Nor is the ability of women to recite Ashrei, English prayers, or haftarah really a claim towards your shul's inclusion of women. Ashrei and the things which are typically done in English in a Conservative synagogue are all also regularly recited by children. (And none of them constitute divre bikedusha). Placing adults at the level of children is hardly encouraging."
Yep, one of my pet peeves regarding halachah is that, regarding some matters, women have the same halachic status as children. Contrary to the old saying, boys will *not* be boys--eventually, they'll be men. But, in some matters of Jewish law, a girl will be a girl for the rest of her life. :(
"Why don't you lead a revolution? If you think the other women are so uncomfortable with your knowledge, then why not share it and put all of you on an even playing field?"
Two problems. One, most of our senior female congregants aren't interested in a revolution--they've lived with "traditional" Judaism for all of their 80-plus years, and see no reason to change now. Debbie Friedman's song about Miriam says that "the women, dancing with their timbrels, followed Miriam as she sang her song." Well, I ain't Miriam, and *no one* is followin' little old, er, actually much younger, me.
Second, it's a classic case of the blind leading the blind. I'm a Hebrew School gal, not an ex-yeshiva bachurah, and feel funny passing myself as an expert.
"That you are putting it out to the internet suggests it might be time to disband."
Anon 1--folks, please pick names, already!--(a) I'm putting it out on the internet because we have no rabbi, and (b) we'll disband soon enough, probably within the next five years, if not less. :(
Anon # 2 (I think? I've lost count, too)
Your statement that you can't help your fellow congregants is fallacious. Why do you think you need more skills than you already have? You know how to take an aliyah, yes? Then you can teach them how to do that. You know how to read Torah, yes? Then you can teach that (or get your husband to help out to lighten the load; IIRC he knows how to as well). You do not have to be an expert to teach someone something. This is absolutely false. You do have to be humble enough to acknowledge when you have erred, and you have to be patient with yourself and others. That's pretty much it. Well, some confidence wouldn't be amiss.
Also, have you spoken to the older women in your shul? It honestly sounds as though all your opinions about what they think are coming through your presuppositions and your husband's impressions. Why haven't you tried to build a relationship with these women? Do you remember consciousness-raising groups? It's never too late to start!
You are setting yourself up to fail. Here's how this goes, time and time again on this thread, and elsewhere on your blog:
Shira: I have a problem. I hate my shul. They are ignorant/non-observant/non-egal/not friendly/whatever. ANGER!
Commenters: Okay, let's help you with that. You can try teaching them politely and gently/being more tolerant of their lapses, most of which stem from ignorance/try to bring about change/go to another shul since you take the subway anyway/whatever else. Have you tried doing that?
Shira: NO! Here are fifty reasons why I can't do that, even though they're not logical. I will continue being miserable. Kvetch, kvetch, kvetch.
... ad infinitum. The one time you did take your commentators' advice, and start to learn how to cook, you seemed really pleased with the results. Maybe a few other attempts wouldn't be amiss, especially for something that's as important to you as Judaism is.
I did take a very small sample survey last Shabbat--of the four women whom I asked, two would take aliyot, one is in favor but would not take an aliyah, and one is opposed but wouldn't fight a decision to give aliyot to women.
My husband's planning to have a Ritual Committee meeting in mid-June, after his teaching semester is over, to discuss biting the bullet and going egalitarian. Should be interesting. Stay tuned.
Not weighing in... but your "small sample" isn't that small when you have around 15-20 people there on Shabbat, right? You probably asked a third to half the women, no?
But yeah, there IS an issue with counting women for a minyan. Halacha requires a minyan of 10 men.
I can't imagine any issue with issuing women aliyot in your circumstances. I mean, even if you are worrying about the honor of the congregation, giving women aliyot when there aren't sufficient men to get them isn't dishonoring the congregation, it's honoring the Torah.
But the suggestion that it is better to fail to honor the Torah with sufficient aliyot is silly.
Hmm, kavod ha-Torah. Thanks, Miami Al--the honor of the Torah would be a good point to mention at the Ritual Committee meeting.
Misogyny can apply just fine, even if it's women doing the enforcement.
Counting women in a minyan is probably the most difficult thing halachically. Allowing women's aliyot is easier. A woman cantor, oy that's already a "dishonor" to the congregation. Women in the minyan means that they are counting themselves equally obligated as men to the mitzvot of davening and reading torah in public. Sorry, Shira, this one is pretty clear cut.
As far as I know, Chavah, counting women in a minyan and having female cantors are the same, halachically--both decisions assume that women "are counting themselves equally obligated as men to the mitzvot of davening and reading torah in public." It certainly seems that counting women for a minyan but not for aliyot is halachically inconsistent.
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