Shmuel Sackett is Founder and Director of the Am Yisrael Chai Foundation.
I am writing this article on an EL AL flight back to Israel, having concluded a two-week visit with family and friends. New York - or at least the few parts that I saw - looked the same to me, with one new addition in the frum community that everyone is excited about: The 24 hour “Minyan Factory" which allows you to daven anytime you want. I must admit that these places are extremely convenient and I davened in the “Non-Stop Minyanim" in the Five Towns and also in the brand new one in Monticello on St John St. From mikveh to mincha… and from Kaddish to coffee, these places offer everything Am Yisrael needs… except one. A woman's section. Women are not welcomed in these minyan factories.
How do I know? Simple! I came to daven one morning with my wife (what a rebel!!) and innocently asked where the women’s section is? The gabbai of the Non-Stop Minyanim on Cedarhurst Ave waved his hands - as if to say: “Please don’t ask ridiculous questions"… but I pressed on. “Seriously, my wife wants to daven. Where is there a place for women?" Realizing that I was not joking around he apologized and told me that there are so many men coming to daven that there is just no room for women. I thanked him for his explanation but made sure I got in the last word. “It’s unfortunate how you found room for pizza and sushi but not for women."
The minyan factory in the Catskills was exactly the same. A tremendous amount of money was invested into buying a big house in Monticello, which was renovated from top to bottom. The rooms are big, spacious and clean. There is a beautiful Bet Midrash in the building as well, where guys can sit and learn and there is a mikveh downstairs that is modern and nice. There are coffee machines, vending machines and even a small Judaica store which sells everything a family needs. However, just like the Five Towns, this minyan factory does not have a mechitza, allowing women to daven.
Please don’t misunderstand me. When I write that we need to have a place for women to daven, I am not pushing the agenda of “The Women of the Wall". Those women are not interested in davening, they simply want to fight. Their agenda is to break the religious hold on the Kotel and to water down authentic Tefila with reform Judaism. My words are the complete opposite! I am referring to our holy wives, mothers, sisters and daughters whose power of prayer can pierce the heavens!
Take a look at the “Kotel-Cam" on YouTube. Watch how many women come to daven “Neitz" (sunrise) at 5am. The gabbaim of the Kotel set hundreds of chairs for them so that they can be comfortable when they daven. Rebbetzin Kanievsky ztz"l also davened early in Bnei Brak. She inspired thousands of women to daven and she - and hundreds like her - used to recite their brachot out loud so other women could answer “Amen".
What has happened to us? When did we begin to distort concepts - in the name of holiness - that actually drive us away from our Father in Heaven? Am Yisrael desperately needs the tefilot of our Eishet Chayils, women of valor, and we need to welcome them in every shul we build. Countless commentaries and passages in the Talmud teach us that it was because of the women that we left Egypt. We all know that women loved the land of Israel, so were not punished in the sin of the spies and did not die in the desert… only the men! Nothing is purer than the tefilot of women who do not look at their watches (or cellphones) when they daven. They cry when they daven - much more than men - and their heartfelt words penetrate the “Gates of Tears", which have never been locked.
Please… if you know the people in charge in these - or other - minyan factories, talk to them and get them to add an Ezrat Nashim - a women’s section. One of my friends told me that, while he agrees with me, a women’s section is not necessary because very few women come anyway. I explained to him that the reason women don’t come is because they are not welcomed! I promise you that as soon as a proper Ezrat Nashim is placed in every minyan, women will start attending. When that day arrives - only good things will happen for our Nation… even if it means there’s no room for pizza and sushi.
Am Yisrael Chai!