The formation of a minyan is part of a man's responsibility in Judaism -
but not a woman's. As we know, ten women do not a minyan make. They cannot
say Kaddish or Kedushah, or have a communal Torah reading. So what are
these women doing? Women forming this type of group are effectively saying
that they need some sort of pseudo-male prayer form, or even that they have
problems with the delineation of men's and women's roles within Judaism. So
although there are Rabbis that tolerate this, most clearly oppose this
practice.
[Having just sent through a post stating Rabbi Avi Weiss' support for these
groups, I must wonder what sort of reasoning or backing he has for his
position. He is a PR maven, but I've not heard him described as a leading
Halachic authority.]
But if you examine the issue carefully, you will see that these groups
contradict feminism as well. What are these women saying? That they need
their own opportunities to express themselves and seek religious
fulfillment as modern women.
So what do they do? They develop a pale imitation [sans Kaddish or Kedushah
(in more ways than one)] of a program which the "old gray-bearded male
Rabbis" designed to meet the needs of MEN! Could there be anything more
ludicrous? Essentially, they are saying that women are incapable of coming
up with their own unique ways of relating to G-d!
Of course, this is far from true - and if you really want to find women
developing independent routes to G-d, just look in the most traditional
communities. All those campaigns to serve G-d through careful speech and
avoiding gossip? The vast majority of designers, organizers, and
participants are women. Tehillim [Psalm] recitation groups? Women's
religious expression, at work. Chesed [charitable organizations /
benevolence, assistance]? Women's religious expression once again.
Do you find men in these organizations as well? Of course. But even they
will admit that a woman's natural empathy and superior sensitivity to the
needs of
others is a tremendous asset in all these areas, and yes, it brings women to
a higher spiritual awareness.
This is not new... in the Talmud, the story is told of a Rabbi and his wife
who gave charity secretly to a poor family. One day, the beneficiary
decided to find out who was giving them food, and ran after the couple when
they dropped off their weekly package. In order to escape detection, they
entered the communal oven - and his feet began to burn, but hers did not.
He stood on her feet until they were able to leave.
Why did he not merit this miracle? Because he gave charity with his money,
while she gave charity through her _actions_, preparing the food.
Obviously, women can achieve spiritual heights that equal and excel those
of men... but in their _own_ way, not by playing wannabe male.
Yaakov Menken