TRADITION I Don't miss this INCREDIBLE 7-HOUR SALE! Separate Seating In The Synagogue What is the basis for mechitza? ONE DAY ONLY! SATURDAY • OCTOBER 26 0 AM - 5 PM Oin EVERYTHING OFF WALL TO WALL Fine Designer Furniture at Fantastic Savings! ELLO • CENTURY • BERNHARDT Plus a great selection of leather from DANSEN & NATUZZI SHERWOOD STUDIOS WAREHOUSE Fine Furniture & Accessories 24760 Crestview Ct. • Farmington Hills 476-3760 (Day of Sale) • 354-9060 (Prior to Sale) IMMEDIATE DELIVERY NOMINAL CHARGE GROUPS SOLD AS COMPLETE SETS PRIOR SALES EXCLUDED ALL SALES FINAL ‘IEWISH AUTHORS Were Looking For You! - • If you have written a Jewish content book • If your book is currently in print • If you would like to be part of a reception • If you would like to sell and autograph your books JEWISH BOOK FAIR WANTS YOU - MAIL COUPON TODAY Name Title of Book Date Published Publisher Address City State Zip Phone Mail by October 28, '1991 to: Book Fair, 6600 W. Maple, W. Bloomfield, MI 48322 64 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1991 JOSEPH TELUSHKIN Special to The Jewish News T he most obvious physi- cal difference between Orthodox and non- Orthodox synagogues is the mechitza (separation) that divides the men's and women's sections of the synagogue. Orthodox synagogues sepa- rate men and women during prayer services; non-Orthodox synagogues do not. The separate section for women is an old tradition in Judaism, and we know that there were separate women's sections as long ago as the beginning of the Common Era, at the time of the Temple in Jerusalem. Today, many non-Orthodox Jews feel that a separate women's section is offensive, that it consigns women to an inferior status. While there are Orthodox laws that clear- ly disadvantage women — most notably, the laws of divorce — it is by no means clear that the mechitza is, or was, intended to be discriminatory. It seems, rather, to have been a response to human nature. God is abstract, and it is an effort for people to focus on an abstract Deity while praying. For me,. and I think for many other men, it is a nat- ural reaction to look around when a group of women is present and let one's gaze rest on a pretty woman. Indeed, people usually dress up before going to synagogue, in an ef- fort to look attractive. In the "battle" between an intangi- ble God and a tangible mem- ber of the opposite sex, Jewish law assumed that the tangi- ble is more likely to win. Hence, physical separation can help bring about spiritual concentration for both sexes. It must also be acknow- ledged, however, that the mechitza is sometimes used to di scriminate against women. I have been to Orthodox synagogues where the mechit- za was so remote that women were effectively cut off from participating in the service. Not surprisingly, women in such congregations often spend the service talking and gossiping, and then are con- demned by the men for not praying. In many modern Or- thodox synagogues, the mechitza is drawn down the center of the synagogue, so that men and women can equally observe the cantor and the service. _ In recent years, a number of Orthodox women have found- ed separate women's prayer groups in which they can lead the service. Men either are not permitted to attend, or must sit behind a special mechitza for males. Some Or- thodox rabbis have con- demned such prayer groups, arguing that they are only a concession to feminism. The response has been that some- thing is not ipso facto un- Jewish because it is feminist; if feminism has prompted people to see an injustice in the Jewish community, then it becomes a Jewish issue as well. The issue of the mechitza provokes powerful emotions in Jewish life. Jewish femi- nists have on occasion de- manded that all Jews com- mitted to women's rights refuse to attend any service in which women are segregated and denied public participa- tion. Orthodox Jews, on the other hand — men and wo- men alike — will not par- ticipate in a service at which men and women sit together. When national Jewish organ- izations meet, separate serv- ices must therefore be arrang- ed for Orthodox and non- Orthodox participants. From the book Jewish Literacy by Joseph Telushkin. Copyright © 1991 by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin. Reprinted with per- mission of William Morrow and Co., Inc. 'I NEWS l'"" Israel Tries Liver Transplant Tel Aviv (JTA) — A 14- year-old Soviet immigrant was reported in critical but stable condition after undergoing the first liver transplant operation ever performed at the Hadassah- Hebrew University Hospital at Ein Kerem in Jerusalem. Michael Yacobov, who arrived in Israel 10 months ago, suffers from hepatitis B, a life threatening infectious disease. Dr. Ahmed Ya'id, a senior surgeon at the hospital, said it would be a week before it is known whether the teen- ager who survived the eight- hour operation will live. The potential problem is rejec- tion of the transplanted organ. The liver was donated by Eurotransplant.