User:Egarfinkel2/sandbox

·      I will edit the synagogue section

o  Add info about why women and men are separated at temple

§ Expand on the term mehitzah,

§ Mehitzah indicates orthodox Judaism itself

§ In contemporary contexts, the experience of meḥitzah very much depends on how and where it is concretely instituted—on its positioning, opacity, height and length.

§ Mehitzah was first instituted at the western wall in 1967

§ Separation of men and women has been a tradition since the second temple

§ Rabbinic law established daily communal prayer as an obligation to men only and the synagogues central area was originally only allowed to be occupied by men

§ weibershule—separate rooms in which women conducted their own prayers

§ ezrot nashim—separate women’s sections in the synagogue, in which women prayer leaders mediated between the main services and the women’s prayers, in a manner again very much determined by the initiatives of women

·      I will edit the transportation section

o  Ultra orthodox Jews separate into men and womens section on the bus, and women are put in the back

o  During 2011 the issue of gender separation became more prominent

o  In January 2011 the Court handed down a decision that forced segregation on public buses is illegal but allowed passengers to board the bus from the back door in order to allow voluntary segregation.

o  Started the segregation in 1990, and it was requested to reflect the character of their Jewish community.

§ Segagrated buses were known as mehandrin, drivers directed where people were to sit and from what door someone could enter from

§ 2010 approx. 50 buses were known as mehandrin

§ More than often only segregated services were provided

§ Soon after the gender segregated buses were introduced Israels women network petitioned the high court. Argued about the discrimination of women

·      Israeli supreme court denied this application on the grounds that it was supported by the religious community

·      Modesty guards were placed on the bus to ensure the dress code restriction was being followed.

·      There were reports of women being verbally and physically abused or being forced off the bus if there attire was inappropriate

·      The Ministry of Transport failed to monitor the mehadrin lines as recommended by the Transport Committee.

·      Complaints were received in relation to 31 trips, "including cases when women were prevented from boarding by the front door or from sitting in the front section of the bus. Many women experienced harassment and serious threats from other passengers, sometimes supported by the driver.

o  Air travel; many instances where ultra-orthodox Jewish men refuse to sit next to women on planes from NY to Israel

·      I will edit the western wall section

o  Women pray at a separate section of the wall and men pray in the other

o  Women protest for the equal right to wear prayer shawls and read aloud from the Torah at the wall

o  Orthodox Judaism defends the practice of gender separation at the wall

o  There is a struggle between Orthodox and reformed(liberal) beliefs between men and women praying separately.

Men and women are separated at temple by a Mechitza. The first mention of Mechitza is in the context of the second temple itself, the temple contained an inner court and a Women's court. Separation was first instituted specifically with regard to the annual “Water-Drawing Ceremony,” simḥat beit hashoevah, held on the second night of the autumn Sukkot festival. Separation of men and women also was established within the Rabbinic Law, which established daily communal prayers binding to men only, and the central area of the synagogue was only allowed to be occupied by men as well. However during the early modern period, Moshe Rosman noted that, women began attending synagogue more often, which reflected on the changes to synagogue architecture. Changes that occurred to synagogue architecture included, the construction of the weibershule-separate rooms in which women conducted their own prayers, also erzot nashim- separate women's section in the synagogue, in which women prayer leaders mediated between the main services and the women's prayers, in a manner again very much determined by the initiatives of women. Today, some more liberal Orthodox congregations have enacted innovations allowing women a greater sense of participation, as long as they remain on their side of the Mechitza. Mechitza, are not only found in synagogues during prayer services, but in other aspects of Jewish life such as festivities, like weddings, lectures, concerts, and bar mitzvahs.

During the 1990s, members of the ultra Jewish orthodox sector began making requests for public transport services be compatible with what they claimed was the character of their community in Israel. This entailed the segregation of men and women on public transportation such as buses. When this movement first began private transport services emerged and began to cater to the Orthodox Jewish requests. Due to these new bus lines a new committee was instituted in the Ministry of Transportation and the committee was led by Nachum Langenthal. The Langenthal committee decided that segregation was to be voluntary and could be adhered by the ultra orthodox Jews, but it was not to be enforced. Even though on city run buses in was not enforced the private buses could enforce these segregation rules, these buses were called mehadrin bus lines. By 2010 their were approximately fifty public bus services designated as mehadrin, although this represented a small portion of the total public buses it allowed for tensions to grow between the orthodox community and the rest of the population. Private bus lines were established all across Israel which caused more issues to arise especially cause sometimes that would be the only form of transportation in the area. Mehadrin bus lines became more prevalent in areas that had a high concentration of ultra orthodox communities. Due to the segregation rules the status of women became a direct issue in the Israeli community. Not only did the rest of the public have issues about the mehadrin buses, but because they were the only form of transportation in some communities the orthodox community began having issues with the overcrowding of the buses. When many of the buses became overcrowded, enforcing the segregation rules became harder and many of the ultra orthodox men complained about having to touch passengers of the opposite sex. When the mehadrin buses became more popular the Israeli women's network petitioned the high court arguing that the segregation policy on mehadrin lines discriminated against women. The Israeli Supreme Court denied the application of the Israel Women's Network on the grounds that the gender segregation on buses was supported by the religious community and should be respected. After the denial of the Israeli women's network, modesty guards began to appear on the buses, some super ultra orthodox men thought that they were responsible for enforcing the segregation rules and took it upon themselves to do so. In some cases women were forced off the bus or subjected to physical or verbal abuse when passengers were not appropriately dressed, or sitting near the front of the bus. Although many protests occurred to stop the segregation it was defended by many. The bus segregation was defended by rabbinic leaders and some members of the ultra-Orthodox community as intrinsic to the ultra-Orthodox way of life.

In recent years the Western Wall in Jerusalem has become a site of conflict and contention between liberal and feminist Jews. The Western Wall has been defended by the orthodox faith for generations, which is why many of the patriarchal traditions have been maintained such as gender segregation. Many orthodox Jews believe that in order to keep the sanctity of the wall proper gender roles must be adhered. Eventually a mechitza was set up at the wall to maintain and enforce gender separation, this caused conflict between the ultra orthodox Jews and the Arabs. The mechitza that was installed during the mid twentieth century it has a men's section and then a women's section which was half the size of the men's section. Although the mechitza was tolerated by many women, there were still protests that occurred, and finally by the year 2000 the Israeli supreme court intervened. The court affirmed the right to have women pray at the wall according to their custom whether it be Reformed, Conservitive, or Orthodox. This new law included the right for women to be able to pray aloud, read from the Torah, and wear a tallitot, the supreme court also recognized that the wall was "owned" by the orthodox sector but felt that women had the right to pray how they wish. After the supreme court ruled upon this some ultra orthodox Jewish men tried to petition the court to criminalize women who read from the Torah, wore a tallitot, or blow shofar at the Wall. In 2003 this petition was looked at by the Israeli court and the court appealed the previously passed bill, the reasoning behind the repeal was because women praying at the wall would be a threat to public safety. The courts decision to once again limit women's rights at the Wall came from a place of fear, that if they did not limit their rights that there would be an uprising by the ultra orthodox sector.