Today I was so blessed to meet with a member of the local Modern Orthodox Jewish community who organizes events among several synagogues in the area. We had such a great conversation! He helped me a lot on my research project and was so forthright and articulate about his views on faith, tradition, the role of women in the synagogue, etc. He's also going to connect me with other people I can interview.
I am so thankful for this because I have been dealing with some frustration on my research project lately, but this really brightened my outlook and reaffirmed my decision to pursue the project. Getting to know people in the community while learning is definitely a great way to spend my "free" time here...if only all the initial contacts and arrangement of logistics didn't take so long!
My project explores the role of women in synagogues in light of (1) commitment to Jewish law & tradition and (2) modern feminist thought. So interesting to hear various perspectives on how synagogues divide the men and women's sections, whether or not they allow women to read Torah, and if women should be ordained as rabbis or not. For me, this is of particular interest because within Christian circles, views on women's roles vary from one denomination to another and even from one woman to another. It's intriguing to see how adherents to another faith tradition deal with these issues.
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