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A curtain or other divider separates men and women while they pray in some synagogues.

The mechitzah is the physical barrier separating the men's section and women's section of an Orthodox synagogue.

In Orthodox congregations, men and women are not permitted to sit together during prayer services. The height of the mechitzah varies, and it can be a curtain, screen or even shelving or plants. In some synagogues, instead of being divided by a mechitzah, the women's section is in the balcony and the men's section is on the main floor of the sanctuary.

Origins of the Mechitzah

It is unclear exactly when mechitzahs came into use, and the halachic (Jewish law) issues are equally ambiguous. The wording of the Talmudic texts is unclear, and the codes nowhere explicitly require a mechitzah. There is neither a direct prohibition nor a direct requirement. Maimonides refers to the women's section in his compilation of laws dealing with the ancient Temple and not in the section dealing with prayer and synagogue. Other medieval texts specifically mention using a partition for public occasions such as the rabbi's lecture.

Responses to Reform's Family Pews

The Mordekhai, a 13th-century German rabbinic authority, states specifically (Shab. 311) that a screen could be set up for such a purpose even on Shabbat. (One might question whether this permission to erect something on the Sabbath, an ordinarily forbidden act, might not indicate the absence of a permanent mechitzah in the synagogue.) It was not until the modern period, when the Reform Movement first removed the mechitzah and later instituted family pews, that Orthodox responsa explicitly requiring a mechitzah for prayer services were written. Orthodox decisors today all agree that one can only pray in a synagogue with separate seating and a mechitzah.

The halachic process surrounding this one issue involves many levels of interpretation, differential weighting of sources, a variety of reasons, and a serious difference of opinion concerning women's "disturbing" presence during prayer. In the last 150 years, the issue of a separation has taken on political overtones that impinge on the legal ones.

The legal questions raised are fascinating and begin with the ambiguous sources relied upon. The primary text is the Talmudic discussion of Mishnah Sukkah 5 :2, which states that on Simhat Beit ha-Sho'evah (the water-drawing festival, during Sukkot) they went into the women's section and made a great improvement (repair) or a major enactment (u-matkinim sham tikkun gadol). There are other Mishnaic references such as Middot 2:5, and Sanhedrin :5, that add to the picture, but the Talmudic discussion in Sukkah 51a,b-52a is the most elaborate.

What exactly was the "new enactment"? The legal decision to separate the men and women is clear in the Talmudic discussion in Sukkah 51a-52a, but the questions as to how, why, and when remain. Was this reform, according to the Talmud, only for that one holiday, when levity reached a level that moral laxity was feared? Or does the Talmudic use of the text of Zechariah 12: 12-14, which relates that men and women were separated for mourning, indicate a known policy on the separation of men and women? What is the legal relationship of that text to other biblical texts in which men and women mingle at public celebrations?

Furthermore, if men and women were separated for mourning, how is it that women still performed officially as wailers? Is that text, then, extend-able to all moments of holiness such as prayer? How did the Sages institute something new for. the Temple? Even with the agreement of a special court of 71, how could any changes be made when 1 Chronicles contains the injunction ha-kol be-khtav (all this in writing),which prohibits any change to the Temple structure? Given even that a physical structure is necessary, will only a balcony suffice?

Consideration of all the above questions, plus other factors such as the equation of synagogue with Temple and the authority of biblical law versus rabbinic law, play a major role in the decision-making process of today's rabbinic authorities. Primary attention is given here to the responsa -teshuvot-of Rabbi Moses Feinstein, in an attempt to elucidate the halakhic process surrounding this one issue. As one of the major Orthodox rabbinic authorities of the 20th century, his views and decisions on this issue are significant.

For Feinstein, separation of the sexes is mandatory and is mide-oraita-having biblical authority. He deals directly with mechitzah in 14 separate teshuvot. Many responsa in the collection Igrot Moshe (IM)-the seven volumes of questions and answers authored by Feinstein-deal with the ways and means of separating men and women. For Feinstein, gender separation is essential in order to preserve biblically mandated morality. He strives to maintain this pattern in many different aspects of daily Jewish life, not just in the synagogue. For example, a large number of his decisions require separate schools for boys and girls, even at the primary level. Having taken such a consistently strong position on male-female separation, it is understandable that he will legislate a strict position on mechitzah.

Denominational Demarcation

The halachic issue aside, the debate became one of denominational polemic that reached its peak in the 1950s in America. At that time, there were Orthodox congregations that had mixed seating. The Orthodox Movement's Yeshiva University even allowed rabbinical students to accept posts in mixed seating congregations, with the hope that they would influence their congregants to change. Both those practices are no longer permitted.

Legal battles were fought in the 1950s in America, as Jews used the civil courts to force one or the other practice. One of the most famous cases was the Mt. Clemens case, in which one man, Baruch Litvin, sued his congregation for depriving him of his rights by changing the seating to mixed pews. The court ruled in his favor and the mechitzah remained. This case was an important element in the hardening of the Orthodox position. Litvin collected various rabbinic sources, statements, and responsa in the book, The Sanctity of the Synagogue. Though Orthodox responsa forbidding mixed pews had been written before, after the publication of Litvin's volume, all Orthodoxy became defined by this one practice.
Excerpted with permission from Daughters of the King: Women and the Synagogue, edited by Susan Grossman and Rivka Haut (Jewish Publication Society).

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Mechitzah: Separate Seating in the Synagogue | My Jewish Learning

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A curtain or other divider separates men and women while they pray in some synagogues. The mechitzah is the physical barrier separating the men's section and women's section of an Orthodox synagogue. In Orthodox congregations, men and women are not permitted to sit together during prayer services.

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The importance of modesty in Christianity

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The importance of modesty in Christianity

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Modesty is an important part of the Christian faith as it is mentioned numerous times throughout the Bible. Here are a few examples:

1 Corinthians 11:5  commands women to wear a head covering for 4 reasons:
1. It would be disgraceful for a woman to cut or shave her hair (11:6)
2. Women are the glory of man (11:7)
3. Women were created from man (11:8)
4. Women were created for man (11:9)

1 Timothy 2:9 reenforces the importance of modesty: “Women should adorn themselves modestly and appropriately and sensibly in seemly apparel, not with elaborate hair arrangement or gold or pearls or expensive clothing,”.

1 Peter 3:3-4 “Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious.”

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Hijab

Introduction

Hijab is an Arabic word meaning barrier or partition.

In Islam, however, it has a broader meaning. It is the principle of modesty and includes behaviour as well as dress for both males and females.

The most visible form of hijab is the head covering that many Muslim women wear. Hijab however goes beyond the head scarf. In one popular school of Islamic thought, hijab refers to the complete covering of everything except the hands, face and feet in long, loose and non see-through garments. A woman who wears hijab is called Muhaajaba.

Muslim women are required to observe the hijab in front of any man they could theoretically marry. This means that hijab is not obligatory in front of the father, brothers, grandfathers, uncles or young children.

Hijab does not need to be worn in front of other Muslim women, but there is debate about what can be revealed to non-Muslim women.

Modesty rules are open to a wide range of interpretations. Some Muslim women wear full-body garments that only expose their eyes. Some cover every part of the body except their face and hands. Some believe only their hair or their cleavage is compulsory to hide, and others do not observe any special dress rules.

In the English speaking world, use of the word hijab has become limited to mean the covering on the head of Muslim woman. However, this is more accurately called a khimaar. The khimaar is a convenient solution comprising usually one, but sometimes two pieces of cloth, enabling Muslim women to cover their hair, ears and neck while outside the home.

Hijab, in the sense of veiling, can also be achieved by hanging a curtain or placing a screen between women and men to allow them to speak to each other without changing dress. This was more common in the early days of Islam, for the wives of the Prophet Muhammad.

Hijab in scripture

What the Qur'an says about the veil and modesty

The Qur'an makes a few references to Muslim clothing, but prefers to point out more general principles of modest dress.

Both men and women are commanded to lower their gaze and "guard their modesty".

The most basic interpretation of "guard their modesty" is to cover the private parts, which includes the chest in women ("draw their veils over their bosoms"). However, many scholars interpret this injunction in a more detailed way and use Hadith (recorded sayings of the Prophet Muhammad) to support their views.

Zeenah (ornaments) is another word with numerous meanings. It has been interpreted to mean body parts, beauty, fine clothes or literal ornaments like jewellery. (The same word is used in chapter 7:31 - "O Children of Adam! wear your beautiful apparel at every time and place of prayer...")

The jewellery interpretation is supported by the instruction to women not to stamp their feet to draw attention to themselves. It used to be the practice among Arabian women to wear ankle chains to attract men.

The word translated here as veils is khumur, plural of khimaar. According to scholars, the word khimaar has no other meaning than a type of cloth which covers the head. Muslim scholars point out that men's turbans are sometimes called khumur as well.

Women during the time of Muhammad did wear the khimaar, but would wear it tied behind so their neck and upper chest were visible. This verse is therefore an order that the khimaar now be drawn over the chest, so that the neck and chest were not bare.

According to most scholars, the khimaar is obligatory for Muslim women.

The phrase "what must ordinarily appear thereof" has been interpreted in many different ways. Among Muslims who take the word zeenah (ornaments) to refer to body parts, a popular interpretation of this phrase is that women should only show the body parts that are necessary for day-to-day tasks. This is usually taken to be the face and the hands.

Some scholars recommend hiding everything but the eyes. The style of burqa worn by Afghan women even hides the eyes. Muslims who oppose full concealment say that if Allah wanted women to hide their entire bodies, there would have been no need to tell male Muslims to lower their gaze.

But "what must ordinarily appear thereof" could be understood as meaning the parts of the body that are shown when wearing normal (modest) dress, with the definition of normal dress deliberately left up to the believers' particular time and culture. This could explain why the Qur'an is not more specific: if God had wanted to, he could have listed the acceptable body parts in as much detail as the list of exceptions to the rule.

Some scholars interpret "what must ordinarily appear thereof" to mean that if a woman exposes part of her body by accident, she will be forgiven. All agree that women will not be punished for breaking the rules if some emergency forces them to do so.

Cast their outer garments over their persons

This verse is directed to all Muslim women. An alternative translation is "they should lengthen their garments".

The word translated here as "outer garments" is jalabib, the plural of jilbab. But it does not necessarily refer to the present day garment known as jilbab. Translators usually represent the word jalabib with general terms like cloaks or outer garments.

The two most common scholarly interpretations of jilbab are a travelling coat or cloak and a sheet-like full body garment similar to the modern jilbab. Some insist that the Qur'anic meaning of jilbab is identical to the present day garment. Others maintain that today's garment was developed as late as 1970 by the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

The verse also indicates that the purpose of dressing this way is that women are recognised as Muslims and not harassed. It was not very safe for women to go out during this time when they could be mistaken for prostitutes or assaulted.

Elderly women

The rules are relaxed for elderly women:

General rules

The Qur'an gives these general rules, which may help in understanding how to interpret dress and other rules in modern times.

So clothing does not have to be drab: it is all right for both sexes to use clothing to enhance beauty as well as to cover nakedness. The most important thing is to be modest and righteous.

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Hijab is an Arabic word meaning barrier or partition. In Islam, however, it has a broader meaning. It is the principle of modesty and includes behaviour as well as dress for both males and females. The most visible form of hijab is the head covering that many Muslim women wear.

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Traditionally, women's clothing must not reveal anything about her body. It is supposed to be thick, opaque, and loose. It should not resemble the clothing of men (or non-Muslims)
(Saudi Arabia)