The clarity of his demon-
stration that this practice
never had, and certainly does
not have today, binding
halachic standing, is of enor-
mous significance even out-
side the context of the central
concern of this book. The
treatment of the tragic confu-
sion between tum'ah and
uncleanliness ought to be
read by every Jew contending
with the underlying premises
of the laws of niddah.
There will undoubtedly be
substantial continuing
debate about some of the
minor elements of these
chapters, such as the question
of precisely which blessings
may be recited prior to and
following each reading from
the Torah scroll. It will be
essential for people to keep in
mind that those issues are
easily resolved, even within a
context of the preservation of
diverse practice, without
undermining the overall pro-
priety of the practice as a
whole.
The threat of nitpicking as
a means of protracting the
debate needs to be foundly re-
jected by the community. In-
deed, Rabbi Weiss provides
the leaders of women's
tefillah groups with an enor-
mous richness of possible ap-
proaches which could be used
creatively in the establish-
ment of local minhag in the
conduct of such services. The
challenge of sustaining a
reasonable degree of diversi-
ty within Halachah is an
issue worth watching in the
future development of this
area of religious practice.
The third and final unit in
the book is titled "Additional
Issues." Perhaps the title of
this chapter ought to have
been "Fraudulent Issues." As
Rabbi Weiss too lovingly
demonstrates, the opponents
of women's prayer groups
have raised a set of irrelevant
issues sometimes bordering
on the absurd, in their
desperate attempt to
halachically discredit the
practice. It's like the penciled
notation at the side of a
preacher's text, "Yell loud,
weak point." The degree of
weakness of the points are
loudly declared as Rabbi
Weiss moves systematically
through the issues raised.
It is in this section of the
book that one can get the best
feeling for the underlying
public policy questions which
are the real driving force of
this conflict. Is feminism in
all its manifestations a real
threat to the integrity of Or-
thodoxy? In whom is authori-
ty vested for the formation of
new minhag — in the hands
of congregational rabbis, or
roshei yeshiva, of the laity of

May the New Year Bring
To All Our Friends
Health,
Joy, Prosperity
and Everything
Good in Life.

ANNA BASSETTS

555 S. WOODWARD BIRMINGHAM, MICHIGAN 48009 (313) 647-0222

Best Wishes
To All Our Customers
For A Happy And Healthy
New Year

The Boardwalk • W. Bloomfield • 737-9059

Wishing You and Yours
A Happy and Healthy
New Year
The Great American Basket Company

A

(313) 626-9050

29594 Orchard Lake Road
Farmington Hills

Wishing You And Yours
A Very Happy And Healthy
New Year!

Miles
Lakin

Jason
Squire

LAKIN • SQUIRE

STUDIOS

6020 W. Maple Rd., Ste. 501
W. Bloomfield

932-0202

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

153