Thank you. So happy to hear about Shomrei Torah’s exciting project.
my children attended Yavneh/ Frisch. But I live in Woodcliff Lake, and Temple Emanuel could use the depth and freedom of a Mechitzah to revive the kavannah of prayer, community, and privacy of connection
to spiritual life.
Yonadav Tapuchi
2 years ago
Thank you for sharing this beautiful communal journey.
Will you be able to share the comprehensive list of Halakhic criteria used as a basis for the design process?
The following are halachic considerations that became part of the design criteria for our mechitzah:
1. Minimum height
2. Opacity: If we had selected a glass mechitzah, the view from women’s side could have been transparent, but the view from the men’s side must at least have had a tint.
3. Solidity: The mechitzah had to be made of a solid material, not something flimsy or flexible.
4. Opening size: The openings had to be small enough to deter people from passing objects through the mechitzah, the driver being that constant exchanges across the mechitzah would undermine the mechitzah’s purpose.
Renah Bell
11 months ago
What a wonderful process and description of the process. The importamce of women’s participation in Jewish life now goes way beyond providing the food and keeping the house clean. There are so many Jewish women whose talents and opinions are respected, including the seriously observant. What a world! Thank you ,Shira, for starting this discussion. This is such a fascinating world and it is so exciting to see beyond my small piece of it.
Thank you. So happy to hear about Shomrei Torah’s exciting project.
my children attended Yavneh/ Frisch. But I live in Woodcliff Lake, and Temple Emanuel could use the depth and freedom of a Mechitzah to revive the kavannah of prayer, community, and privacy of connection
to spiritual life.
Thank you for sharing this beautiful communal journey.
Will you be able to share the comprehensive list of Halakhic criteria used as a basis for the design process?
The following are halachic considerations that became part of the design criteria for our mechitzah:
1. Minimum height
2. Opacity: If we had selected a glass mechitzah, the view from women’s side could have been transparent, but the view from the men’s side must at least have had a tint.
3. Solidity: The mechitzah had to be made of a solid material, not something flimsy or flexible.
4. Opening size: The openings had to be small enough to deter people from passing objects through the mechitzah, the driver being that constant exchanges across the mechitzah would undermine the mechitzah’s purpose.
What a wonderful process and description of the process. The importamce of women’s participation in Jewish life now goes way beyond providing the food and keeping the house clean. There are so many Jewish women whose talents and opinions are respected, including the seriously observant. What a world! Thank you ,Shira, for starting this discussion. This is such a fascinating world and it is so exciting to see beyond my small piece of it.