I'm a Feminist...and I'm Pro-Mechitza

I've noticed that one issue that crops up time and time again in reference to how "backward" liberal Jews view the Orthodox is the מחיצה. It is a hotbed topic on heterogeneous forums like Beliefnet.com and can be evidenced in the responses to this article written by Stephen Greenberg on the subject. You even have 'mixed' feelings from Orthodox Jews as well (as Erica Brown writes about in her article ).

I can only speak for myself, but I can understand the misconceptions and the reasons for the active disdain from women about the mechitza. Not so long ago, I was an active Reform Jew; I opened the ark, removed and held the sefer Torah, got called for aliyot (never did a hagbah though!). I enjoyed those moments; but I was also ignorant of what Judaism was all about.

I will go out on a limb here and say that the Reform shabbos services were an orderly group social event. Sure there are many, many people who recieve some sort of spiritual boast in liberal Judaism. But I remember - sitting there and reading out loud in unison from their siddur...

These are the precepts which merit reward; honoring your father and mother, visiting the sick, respect of the deceased, celebrating with the bride and groom, and the pursuit of Torah is equal to them all.

Really?

Of course we believed what we were saying - but it was rote. We "did our duty" each Shabbat and many congrents would run off to the mall or to go eat lunch at Chili's. There was no "seperation" between Shabbat and any other day; if anything, Shabbat included another "to-do" which was to go to services.

Back to the mechitza; the biggest complaint by far is that women are excluded from Orthodox services. Thinking about it - that statement is true. Woman have no requirement to daven with a minyan, so the service is not really for them. Whoa - draw and pull up (wait a minute in non-patios English)! This is coming from...a proclaimed feminist?

I'll get to the feminist point in a bit. But lets talk football (I'm a big Steelers fan, just to warn you); I like football. In football, as in most sports, each player has his role. The actualy contest is between those 9-12 guys on the tarmarc, not the coaches, the 50 players standing on the sidelines, trainers, and 50,000 fans in the stadium. But tell them that. When the the wide reciever runs in a 30 yrd touchdown, he is the only one doing the action, but believe you me, the whole team, most of the stadium, and even the thousands (millions if it's the Super Bowl) at home watching on TV feel it too. My goodness; you have some people who remember exactly where they were when Franco Harris made his "immaculate reception" more than 25 years ago - just like they did it themselves.

Now if only we can conjure up the same emotions towards our service to Hashem!

This being said, I curiously don't see women getting offended, even the die-hard football fan women, at the notion that women cannot "participate" fully in the NFL. I don't see criticism directed towards the NFL that they are excluding women and treating them like second-class citizens because there are no women on the rosters of any team. Oh, but wait! No one is giving the NFL a hard time because everyone knows that women are not physically able to play football on a professional level. Nevermind the 6'3", 240 lb Swedish woman that plays basketball who may be able to cut it; we still need to keep the women regulated to their own sports because of their physical differences.

So physical differences can be recognized, but spiritual ones cannot?

....

The 1st time I went to an Orthodox service - it was a Sephardic minyan in a hotel on Miami Beach. I had only a vague idea of the structure of an Orthodox service. The mechitza there was a simple wooden divider with a crosshatch design; that probably would not have be kosher if it were not for the fake flowers and vines they weaved throughout it. It was beautiful. And just like anyone else who stumbled upon traditional Jewish services late in the game, I was thoroughly lost! And although some men who have 'been there, done that' may be jealous of hearing me say this, but that mechitza made that particular Friday night bearable. I did not have to worry about stares or 'being off'. I could just drink the atmosphere in, and join in on the tefillos I knew. The couple other women there were not a threat because they two would daven a bit and then go 'off tangent'. Now it sounds as if the women are copping out. That we just want to socialize. Here's where the feminism comes in.

Feminism by definition is a focus on equality for the sexes on a social, economic and political level. Ah-ha (virtual light bulb by head goes off), if liberal Judaism is focused on the social aspects of being a Jew and that's the main sha-bang; then of course feminism in it's classical definition becomes an issue. As much as the leaders of liberal Judaism trumpet otherwise, the Torah is not central to their movements; so what you are left with is a group of Jews who try to maintain a social structure of some sorts...not a religious one.

I am not undermining non-Orthodox Jews. It is very hard to walk into a display of Torah-observant life and just 'get it'. It takes extra effort to scratch beneath the surface; to work through the grime until you see the glimmering gold shine through.

Leaving Judaism alone for a bit; I have my own profound experience with feminism and it's relevance in our day and age. I went to college for Electronics Technology and got certified in Aviation Electronic Systems. So, um, yeah...it was a male dominated field by far! I mean no one scoffed at my choices; after all I grew up in the 1980s when Barbie had that "We Girls, Can Do Anything...Right Barbie?" diddy and you had women like Judith Resnick and Sharon McAuliffe who where flying into space, you had politicians like Madeleine Albright, and actresses like Linda Hamilton who were annihilating killing machines from the future. It had been 60 years since Amelia Earhart strutted her stuff so feminism was well on it's way...

Instead I realized something quite late in game. I realized that a woman can do whatever job she wishes as long as she is willing to compromise. Of course that goes for men too; but for most jobs, men do not have to compromise on their masculinity - unless they are working as drag queens. Women in 'non-traditional' careers however must compromise a bit on their feminity. There are exceptions, and there are women who go against this trend, like in just about everything. In my case, it was "the little things" but they bothered me nonetheless. Things such as fibbing about my periodic runs to the restroom because I was on my period, or apologizing for asking for help in lifting something, and even growing callous to the 'cat-calls' my peers threw out to female passer-bys (not to mention the derogatory comments made towards the "fairer gender" in general).

I have the utmost respect for women who have beat the odds and have achieved success in male-dominated professions. But me myself I did not have have the talent to be able to switch my mindset back and forth. But for the women who can and choose to go out there; there is no reason why they should not be compensated, celebrated, and supported as much as their male counterparts.

To me, that is what feminism is all about; and it is not contrary to the accepted definition of feminism either.

So these are my feelings; I have crawled up in aircraft cowlings alongside men and I have davened on the women's side of the mechitza. In both situations, the culmination of the experience was dependent on my mindset at the time and nothing more. Hashem is everywhere; if I daven at the Kotel or if I daven on the beach in Key West, he hears me. Service to G-d does not only come from reading from the bima or leading the Amidah. It comes from preparing kosher food for your children; it comes from making sure to acknowledge the sexuality of the female physique by keeping covered what should only be seen by your husband; it comes from saying tehillim for the sick and elderly.

The Creator of all knows us so much better than we know ourselves.