A message from our chair about the trial of downstairs seating for women.

Dear Member

Those of you who came to the Synagogue AGM in May will recall that we agreed to hold a trial of a downstairs seating area for women. We are now ready to proceed with this and plan to start it shortly after the end of the yom tov season, just as soon as we can either borrow or cheaply build the extra panels we need.

What we are planning is a trial of about three months with the seating area being the whole of the first block on the left as you come into the shul. There will be a temporary mechitzah (partition) in front of this block and to the side of it. For both halachic and practical reasons, we will need to operate with two entrances to the shul. Women who choose to sit downstairs will enter through the normal door; men will come in through the doors from the Rose and Harry Epstein Hall (where we hold the Kiddush) into the shul.

There are a few points to emphasise here. As agreed at the AGM,  this is a temporary arrangement to see how well the downstairs area works. We will be monitoring the usage by women, the effects on the use of the upstairs gallery (which will remain open for women who prefer to sit there), the acceptability and attractiveness of the arrangement for women and for men, the effects on the service (on decorum and the general atmosphere), and the various practical issues that are bound to arise – the entrance system, noise from the hall, whether the larger attendance in shul for simchas puts pressure on space, etc. We will be using a temporary mechitzah made up of the panels we have in the Beit Hamedrash (the small shul) and some we are borrowing, in order to make the trial cost-free (or at worst very low cost). So please note that if we decide in the end to have a permanent downstairs women’s seating area, we will invest in a more attractive arrangement and this might involve some structural work (e.g. a new entrance). These decisions will be part of the evaluation of the trial.

There will obviously be disruption for the men who usually sit in the affected block during this trial period. If you are one of them, please let Jo in the office know if you would like to be formally allocated an alternative seat during the trial, or whether you would prefer just to sit where there is an unoccupied space.

Please bear with us whilst we try all this out, but also please let us know your views (though maybe wait for a few weeks before doing so, in order to allow a fair test of the arrangements!). We will be sending out a questionnaire on how the trial has gone, as well as collecting data on usage and listening to all the opinions people express.

The trial is being organised by Karen Ackerman, Stephen Games, Irene Mansfield, Eddy Levin and Greg Swimer, in consultation with myself and the Rabbi. They will all be interested in your views, but please send your comments to the shul Administration in the first instance, via the Synagogue office.