Ten Men (Only)

Rabbi Elliot Pachter reaffirms the way a minyan
is counted at Congregation B'nai Moshe.

"When I heard about it, I was glad
they didn't change, honey. I like it the
way it is," said Roth, a member for 38
years.
nside the July bulletin for
Bill Behrmann is not so sure. The
Congregation B'nai Moshe,
West
13looffifield resident spent much
next to a note welcoming new
of
the
last two decades at an egalitari-
members and an inspirational
an
Conservative
congregation in
gardening message fromPresident
Highland
Park,
Ill.
Since his move
Susan Friedman, is a message from
here, his wife Jane has not needed to
Rabbi Elliot Pachter that some might
take part in daily minyan for .
find reassuring but others might find
Kaddish, but he wishes that option
disheartening.
were open to her
"Recently I was
nonetheless.
asked by the Ritual
"We fully respect
Committee whether we
Rabbi
Pachter's right
might consider chang-
to
make
that decision
ing our policy regard-
as a rabbi of a
ing how we count for a
Conservative congre-
minyan," he began,
gation, and I mean
"and I responded that
that with all my
we would be continu-
heart," he said. "But
ing the practice of
we
have some con-
requiring the presence
cerns."
of 10 adult Jewish
The issue has
males for the recitation
come
more to the
of certain public
fore
in
the past few
prayers.
years
as
"I am using this
Congregation
month's column to
Shaarey Zedek and
explain why we are not
Congregation Beth
changing our practice." Rabbi Elliot Pachter isn't ready
Abraham
Hillel
The statement
for egalitarian minyanim at
Moses
have
both
affirming the 87-year-
Congregation B'nai Moshe.
altered
practices
to
old congregation's
count
women
in
stance on who should
minyanim and allow them the role of
count in the minyan may have done
shaliach
tzibbur, or leader of prayer.
anything but put the issue to rest as
Congregation
Beth Shalom has been
small but palpable waves of dissent
fully
egalitarian
for over 20 years, and
rippled through the 500-plus family
the
Isaac
Agree
Downtown
Conservative congregation in West
Synagogue has allowed women the
Bloomfield. As is allowed by the con-
same status as men for nearly as
" gregation's bylaws, the decision was
many years.
rendered by the rabbi without an
This shift is reflective of the
open discussion or congregational
Conservative
movement as a whole.
vote.
A
survey
of
congregations
and
"I have chosen not to take a formal
their
members
last
year
found
poll at this point," Pachter said. "I
that 83 percent of North
have given this as my sense as a rabbi
American Conservative congre-
that the place we are in right now is a
gations were fully egalitarian.
good place for us and a healthy place
Rulings dating back to 1955 from the
for us. Some people have been sup-
Rabbinical Assembly's Committee on
portive and some people have not. I
Law and Standards grant women aliy-
expected that would be the case."
ot (the privilege of reading from the
Edith Roth belongs in the former
Torah)
in the synagogue, count them
category.

JILL DAVIDSON SKLAR
Special to the Jewish News

I

in the minyan and confer on them
ordination as rabbis.
The rulings, however, do not man-
date inclusion of women. Rather,
congregations adopt practices with
which their members are comfortable,
allowing some congregations to
remain traditional, some to become
fully egalitarian and others to find a
balance between the two ends of the
spectrum.
While the majority of Detroit's
Conservative synagogues have
become fully egalitarian, allowing
women to count in the minyan and
lead prayers, others beside B'nai
Moshe have retained some traditional
practices. At Congregation Beit
Kodesh and Adat Shalom Synagogue,
only men are counted in a minyan
and only men may lead the congrega-
tion in prayer.
At B'nai Moshe, the issue was pre-
sented to Pachter about a year ago by
the ritual committee. Marc Sussman,
chair of the committee, said the
decision was made by
Rabbi Pachter in
his role as
Morah D'Atra
or teacher of
Torah for

.

the congregation and as such the issue
did not make it to a level of open dis-
cussion. Because of this, Sussman did
not feel it was appropriate to com-
ment on the issue.
Pachter explained that he felt the
issue would cause an unnecessary rift
in the congregation.
"The reason for my decision was
two-fold," he said. "One was to main-
tain the status quo. The other is that,
in my role as rabbi of the congrega-
tion, for the time being, I want to
keep this process with me rather than
open it up to congregational discus-
sion."
But while the waves of egalitarian-
ism have gently rocked B'nai Moshe,
the issue of egalitarianism also raises a
concern for the girls of the two con-
gregations who attend the fully egali-
tarian Hillel Day School, Detroit's
only Conservative school. There, the
students lay tefillin, lead daily prayers
and are counted in the minyan
regardless of sex. For those girls who
attend Beth Abraham Hillel
Moses, Shaarey Zedek or
Beth Shalom, the rules .
of worship do not
change.
For those Hillel
girls who attend
Beit Kodesh,
Adat Shalom
and B'nai
Moshe, the
rules do change.
Pachter does
not see this as
an issue.
"I haven't had
this conversation
with Hillel families
but I don't necessari-
ly see this as a prob-
lem," he said.
"I believe where we are is
consistent with the larger
Conservative movement in that we
represent the existence of choice, in
terms that there are different view-
points and practices," Pachter said. "I
am not saying that traditionalism is
the only way to go."

❑

9/11
1998

Detroit Jewish News

9

