Separate but Equal
Walking into a Jewish synagogue, one would see the men and women separated during prayer by a mechitzah, which is some type of partition (I. Haut 90). The mechitzah can be a divider such as a wall or in some cases the separation can be made by a designated area, such as a balcony, enclosed by a curtain, where women are required to sit (Starr 27). According to Orthodox tradition, men and women are not allowed to sit together in the synagogue (I. Haut 90). In some synagogues, the presence of a mechitzah limits the ability of the women’s section to see or even hear the services that are led in the men’s section (Rich). Women in the synagogue are not allowed to be heard, individually or as a group. They are forbidden from performing any ritual acts even when the act does not require speaking. From their separate section, they can only pray along with the service and listen to the Torah reading (R. Haut 138). Based solely on an experience in a synagogue, it would appear to someone not familiar with the traditional Jewish religion that Jewish women have a lesser position in the church community than Jewish men. This is not the case; Jewish women are viewed as separate, yet equal (Rich). The mechitzah and other restrictions placed on women in the synagogue are not to punish the women or to make the statement that Orthodox Jewish women are in any way inferior to men.