Editing Mechitza (section)

===Designs===
There are different styles of mechitzot, depending on the number of women the synagogue expects to attend their prayer services, how dedicated the congregation is to accommodating women who wish to pray with the congregation, and whether the congregation believes that the purpose of the mechitza is to provide a social separation or to prevent the men from seeing the women.

Any of these options can be made so that they go across the length of the room so that men and women are side-by-side or so that they go across the width of the room so that women sit behind the men. Synagogues in which women sit next to the men are generally more concerned with women's ability to join equally in prayer with the congregation.
[[File:B'NaiJacobOttumwaMechitza.JPG|thumb|right|View over the mechitza from the women's balcony of the [[B'nai Jacob Synagogue (Ottumwa, Iowa)]]]]

;Balcony: Balconies with a three-foot wall are themselves traditionally considered fitting mechitzot. In this design, women sit in the balcony and men sit below. This design was common in the 19th and early 20th century, and is common in Europe, including the [[Lisbon Synagogue|Shaarei Tikva synagogue]] in Lisbon (opened in 1904). Examples in the United States include the [[B'nai Israel Synagogue (Baltimore)|Bnei Israel Synagogue]] in Baltimore (opened 1845), [[B'nai Jacob Synagogue (Ottumwa, Iowa)|B'nai Jacob]] in [[Ottumwa, Iowa]] (opened 1915), Temple Beth Shalom (the Tremont Street Shul) in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]] (opened 1925 as Temple Ashkenaz), and the Beth Efraim Bukharian Jewish Synagogue in [[Forest Hills, Queens|Forest Hills]], New York (70th Avenue). Some of these American examples are modeled after specific European synagogues, others are best classified as [[vernacular architecture]]. A Canadian example is the [[Beth Jacob V’Anshei Drildz|Beth Jacob Synagogue]] in [[North York]], Ontario.
; Balconies with curtains or one-way glass: More strict congregations add a curtain to the balcony so that men cannot see even women's faces.
; Central partition: A fixed-height gate or planter running down the center of the room, so that women and men both face front side by side. Often these partitions are minimal height ({{convert|3|ft|abbr=out|disp=or}}). In addition to the partition, sometimes the women's section is elevated by about a foot above the men's section. Example of a lower partition with a raised floor is in [[Anshe Sholom B'nai Israel|Anshe Shalom Bnei Israel]] synagogue in Chicago and Young Israel of Ocean Parkway in [[Flatbush, Brooklyn]]. An example of a medium-high partition ({{convert|5|ft}}) without a raised floor is the Adas Israel in [[Hamilton, Ontario]]. An example of a higher partition with a raised floor is in [[Mount Sinai Jewish Center of Washington Heights]] in [[Manhattan]].
; Booth: Synagogues that expect very few women to attend provide a token space that can accommodate about six women comfortably. The space is demarcated by moveable, opaque partitions that are over {{convert|6|ft}} high. Examples are in the [[Yeshiva University]] [[beit midrash]], and the Shabbat afternoon service at Young Israel of Avenue J in Flatbush, Brooklyn. In some synagogues, the booth is a supplement to the balcony, to accommodate women who have difficulty walking up the stairs (such as at [[Congregation Shearith Israel (Baltimore, Maryland)|She'erith Israel Congregation]], Glen Avenue, [[Baltimore]]).
; Fixed-height opaque wall: Sometimes with a non-opaque curtain, screen, glass, or other material above the wall, which can include: blinds or a curtain that can be opened during announcements or a sermon, etched glass, stained glass, a one-way screen with lights so that women can see through without being seen (e.g. Beth Jacob Shaarei Zion and Suburban Orthodox in Baltimore).
: The mechitza at the [[Boston (Hasidic dynasty)|Bostoner]] Rebbe's synagogue in [[Brookline, Massachusetts]], is made entirely of panels from the Boston [[John Hancock Tower]] (which had been removed from that building due to safety concerns). The Bostoner Rebbe chose these panels because they are one-way glass so the women can see out, but men cannot see into the women's section. Later, the Rebbe's wife put curtains inside the women's section, so that women could not see into the men's section.)
; Curtain: Usually {{convert|5|ft}} tall or higher, made of opaque or semi-opaque material, held up by poles on stands or a clothesline. This option costs less than the above fixed options and is used frequently by synagogues that wish to use their prayer halls for mixed-sex functions in addition to separate sex prayer. [[Hillel International|College Hillel]] Orthodox [[minyan]]s may choose this option because the rooms at Hillel are all used for multiple purposes besides prayer.
; Separate room: The strictest separation has women in a separate room from the men, able to view through one-way glass or an open window from a balcony, or not view at all. Examples of this are the yeshiva [[Ohr Somayach, Jerusalem|Ohr Someach]] in the neighborhood of [[Maalot Dafna]] in [[Jerusalem]], where the men sit in a first floor room with a two-story ceiling, and the women are on the second floor with a window overlooking the men's prayer hall. A similar design (men first floor, women second floor) is in [[770 Eastern Parkway]], the main synagogue for the [[Chabad Lubavitch]] movement in [[Crown Heights, Brooklyn]], and the Main [[Belzer]] Shul in Jerusalem.