Introduction

For my first blog post, I want to explain the purpose and reasoning behind this blog. I am taking an Introduction to Cultural Anthropology course this semester and one of my assignments for this course is to blog about a cross-cultural encounter. I am interested in the topic of men and women being separated in Jewish synagogues because I grew up in an Conservative egalitarian Jewish synagogue in my hometown of Lexington, Massachusetts. I spent many years studying Hebrew and the Jewish customs in my religion school and even learned a little about the practices of other Jews. However, I never fully understood and have always wondered why Orthodox Jewish women sit in separate sections than men during prayer. Each branch of Judaism has slightly different beliefs and interprets the Torah and Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible) a bit differently. As a Conservative Jew, I want to understand the practice of separating men and women during prayer. It always amazed me that people of the same religion can have such different practices and I wish to understand why Orthodox Jews follow certain practices that other Jews do not follow. After thinking about why Orthodox Jews might separate men and women during prayer services, I came to the conclusion that the culture that Orthodox Jews live in must be different than Conservative and Reform Jews' culture. In my blog, I hope to explain the meaning behind this gender separation during prayer, including understanding the history behind the practice and what makes this people follow this practice in a secular world where everyone strives to be equal with everyone else.