Editing Mechitza (section)

{{Short description|Gender barrier in Jewish synagogues}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}} 
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[[File:Men%27s_and_women%27s_prayer_areas_at_the_Western_Wall,_seen_from_walkway_to_the_Dome_of_the_Rock.jpg|thumbnail|Separation between men and women at the [[Western Wall]]]]
A '''''mechitza''''' ({{langx|he|מחיצה}}, partition or division, pl.: {{lang|he|מחיצות}}, {{Transliteration|he|mechitzot}}) in [[Judaism]] is a partition, particularly one that is used to [[Sex segregation|separate men and women]].

The rationale in [[halakha]] (Jewish law) for a partition dividing men and women is derived from the [[Babylonian Talmud]].<ref name="sukkah"/> A divider in the form of a balcony was established in the [[Temple in Jerusalem]] for the [[Simchat Beit HaShoeivah]] ceremony, a time of great celebration and festivity. The divider was first established to preserve [[Tzniut|modesty]] and [[Kavanah|attention]] during this time.

During the mid-20th century, a substantial number of Orthodox synagogues did not have mechitzot.<ref name="Lucette">{{cite news |last=Lagnado |first=Lucette |date=March 27, 2007 |title=Prayer Behind the Partition |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB117461987725146496 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230506121725/https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/SB117461987725146496 |archive-date=May 6, 2023 |newspaper=[[Wall Street Journal]] |quote=In the past few years, the Orthodox Union, which oversees hundreds of synagogues in America, formally decreed that any congregation calling itself Orthodox must have a formal divider. ... The OU's partition policy calls for women to sit apart from men with a 'tangible, physical separation.'}}</ref> However, the [[Orthodox Union]] (OU), the main body of [[Modern Orthodox]] synagogues in the United States, adopted a policy of not accepting as new members synagogues without mechitzot, and strongly encouraged existing synagogues to adopt them.<ref name="Lucette"/> Men and women are generally not separated in most [[Conservative Judaism|Conservative]] synagogues, but it is a permissible option within Conservative Judaism; some Conservative synagogues, particularly in Canada, have separate seating for men and women, with or without a physical partition. [[Reform Judaism|Reform]] congregations, consistent with the movement's core value of gender equality, do not use mechitzot in their synagogues.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite news |title=Reform Jews Examining Ways to Retain Their Young Men |date=February 4, 2006 |first=Debra |last=Nussbaum-Cohen |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/04/us/reform-jews-examining-ways-to-retain-their-young-men.html |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>