Gender separation in Judaism
In Pirkei Avot 1:5, Yosi ben Yochanan says that a man who spends too much time talking to women, even his wife, neglects the study of Torah and will inherit gehinnom (Hell).
[1] Chapter 152 of Kitzur Shulchan Aruch details a series of laws forbidding interaction between persons of the opposite sex who are not married or closely related.
[2] Some of the prohibitions include negiah (physical contact), yichud (isolation with members of the opposite sex), staring at women or any of their body parts or attire, or conversation for pleasure.
[3] Separation was first instituted just for the once-a-year celebration of the annual "Water-Drawing Ceremony", simḥat beit hashoevah, held on the second night of the autumn Sukkot festival.
However, women regularly entered the Beit Hamikdash Holy area at all other times just as any Israelite man could to bring their personal sacrifices.
Scholars have long debated the extent to which gender segregation and a mechitza between the sexes existed in synagogues during the periods of the Second Temple, the Mishnah, and the Talmud.
[6][3] 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.
Mechitzot are not only found in synagogues during prayer services, but in other aspects of Jewish life such as festivities, like weddings, lectures, concerts, and b'nei mitzvah.
In the mid-twentieth century, a mechitza was set up at the wall to maintain and enforce gender separation; this caused conflict between the Haredi Jews and the Arabs.
[10][11] Their form and manner of prayer elicited a violent response from some Orthodox worshippers, and they were initially banned from holding services at the site.
The Israeli high court finally affirmed in 2000 the right to have women pray at the wall according to their custom, whether it be Reform, Conservative, or Orthodox.
[18] At Kiryas Joel, a Hasidic community in New York, a public park was opened that included separate sections for boys and girls, with a great distance between.
[19] Public performances from female singers are discouraged in Haredi communities due to kol isha, the law that men are forbidden from listening to women sing as established in Berakhot 24a of the Talmud.
In 2019, the Israeli High Court banned a gender segregated concert from taking place in Afula, but the ruling was too late as the performance was almost over.
[25] During the 1990s, members of the Haredi sector began making requests for public transport services be compatible with what they claimed was the character of their community in Israel.
When many of the buses became overcrowded, enforcing the segregation rules became harder, and many of the Haredi men complained about having to touch passengers of the opposite sex.
[26] 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.
[26] After the denial of the Israel Women's Network, modesty guards, super Haredi men who attempted to enforce the segregation rules themselves, began to appear on buses.
Halperin-Kaddari does not suggest altering the language of Jewish law but advocates for working within it, prioritizing interpretations that include women over those that exclude them.
