leftyjew

The answer is obviously no. However, a lot of Jews that I know use the degree of female participation as THE way to distinguish orthodox from conservative. This is a big problem. It means that otherwise observant people are shunned by mainstream orthodoxy because they feel that women should be allowed to read Torah or lead shacharit or (heaven forbid!) put on tefillin or tzitzit - two commandments only time-bound because of poor lighting at night. If that's the only thing that divides you, then what are you basing your religious identity on? I remember R' Ari talking about the old yeshivas in Lithuania which, when asked to either teach math and science or close down, decided to close down. Using "women" as a dividing "issue" is incredibly dehumanizing. Women are people, not issues. I'm not the biggest Jewish feminist. I think that halakha does not permit a mixed minyan. I think that halakha does hold women and men to different levels of obligation. I do, however, have a problem when "orthodox" Jews who eat trief or daven twice a week or embarrass their fellow or commit loshon hara, etc, turn their noses up at women who wear kippot or tefillin or daven in mixed company. This seems like something we shouldn't bother addressing until other problems have been worked out. it was only by the merit of the righteous women that we were redeemed from egypt. What makes you think men have any greater role in redeeming us from this exile?

And jitw was great.