bimah

[saraga...@yahoo.co.uk]

Hi everyone.  Many partnership minyanim following orthodox halacha do not a mechitza on the  bimah for the leining.  Does anyone know the halachic reasoning/ source why this is ok?

[Elli Sacks]

I don't have a source, but we can infer the following through svara (reason):

1) For centuries, normative Orthodox shuls have never had a mechitzah running down the middle of the Bimah
2) Those Orthodox poskim who in the past have permitted women to have aliyot under various circumstances were aware of the fact that the Bimah had no mechitzah
3) Therefore, the sight of and presence of a woman on the Bimah without a mechitzah did not constitute a prohibitive problem for these poskim.

We can also infer that Qeriat ha-Torah -- which represents a communal obligation incumbent on men and women to read and hear Torah -- is unlike the prayer service in which a mechitzah and physical separation is necessary.  

The idea of running a mechitzah down the middle of the Bimah is, AFAIK, a new and innovative idea.  I believe it is unnecessary for Qeriat ha-Torah, though necessary if the hazzan or hazzanit is leading the prayer service from the Bimah.

I will ask around if there are any corroborating sources...

On Wed, Jan 14, 2015 at 9:32 PM, saragarfield via PartnershipMinyanim <partnersh...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Hi everyone.  Many partnership minyanim following orthodox halacha do not a mechitza on the  bimah for the leining.  Does anyone know the halachic reasoning/ source why this is ok?

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[Brad Sugar]

I cannot speak to its halachic nature, but the mechanics of aliyot and Torah reading would be difficult/near impossible with separation in the middle of the bimah. 

[Jeffrey Fox]

For whatever it is worth Rabbi Avi Weiss insists on the mechitza going all the up to the shulchan.

It is not so diffilcult.  Shira Chadasha also models this with the curtain that goes all the way over the shulchan.

The reality is that the mechitza was likely a takanat geonim which is why it does not appear in the mishna / gemara.

The weight of the mechitza is much more communal than formal (textual) or classically halakhik.

The mechitza has become a boundary issues that defines a shul (minyan) as Orthodox.

When access is granted from both sides the mechitza need not be viewed as problematic.

sh"sh,

Jeff Fox

Rabbi Jeffrey S. Fox
(c) 201.328.5995

(w) 718.796.0590 x.103

Yeshivat Maharat

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“Most people worry about their own bellies, and other people's souls, when we all ought to be worried about our own souls, and other people's bellies” 

- Rabbi Israel Salanter

[Naama Margolis]

On a related note, does anyone have anything to say about how to place the aron in a manner that is both halachic and accessible to women? I think many PM minyans have the aron in between  men's section and  the women's section, which in our shul, leads to a situation where the cohanim duchen in the women's section - since they stand all around the aron. Does anyone else have a similar setup and/or anything to say about the halachic merits/underpinnings (or lack thereof) of this kind of practice?

Thanks & shavua tov,

Naama