The Partition Preserves Proper Prayer
On a visit in Paris, I was asked to speak in the local Beit Hakeneset on Shabbat, after Shacharit. As I entered the synagogue, I discovered women with uncovered hair sitting among the men, as everyone waited for services to begin.
Under no circumstances would I pray in such a setting. The Gemara states (Berachot 24a) that a woman’s uncovered hair is considered nakedness. I therefore turned to the rabbi and asked him to instruct the women to sit in their designated section. But the rabbi sidestepped my request and unashamedly informed me that it was common practice in their Beit Hakeneset for both genders to pray together.
I was both shocked and enraged at his cavalier response. “We are taught that in the days of the Beit Hamikdash, the entire nation would ascend during the Sukkot festival, and celebrate the Simchat Beit Hasho’eivah there. The woman would gather in the Azarah, whereas the men would remain outside. They would dance and perform stunts in great joy, drawing up buckets of ruach hakodesh.
“Even though the nation was saturated with divine inspiration, light-years away from anything hinting to immorality, the men and women were kept apart.”
I then turned to the rabbi and asked, “Do you honestly feel that the spiritual level of your congregation is more elevated than that of the nation during the days of the Beit Hamikdash, when they celebrated this exalted festival? I would think not!
“If in those days, there was a need for complete separation between men and women, all the more so in our days must we maintain separation.”
The rabbi agreed with me, but was still skeptical about the congregation’s reaction. Since he was afraid to broach this delicate subject, I myself turned to the women and asked that they ascend to the women’s section upstairs, so that we could begin praying.
They willingly complied, and we began the Morning Services.
