Women and Men in Communal Prayer

Rabbi Professor Daniel SperberRabbi Mendel ShapiroProfessor Eliav ShochetmanRabbi Dr. Shlomo RiskinIntroduction by Dr. Tamar Ross Edited by Chaim Trachtman, MDCommunal prayer has always been a central component in Jewishlife. Traditional orthodox services are structured around spatial andfunctional separation of men and women. In this book, introduced by Dr. TamarRoss, Rabbi Daniel Sperber presents a halakhic justification for expanding therole of women in communal prayer services. Building on work by Rabbi MendelShapiro (included in the volume) in which the legal sources are examined andinterpreted to permit women to lead parts of the service and participate in Torahreading, Rabbi Sperber highlights the pivotal importance of kevod ha-beri'ot(human dignity) in encouraging fuller participation of women in communalprayer. Because of the relevance and timeliness of the topic, two articles thatexpress opposition to Rabbi Sperber's position are included " one by RabbiShlomo Riskin and one b