Saturday, May 16, 1998

Special synagogue partition keeps the sexes in their places but gives the women a view

By Jeffrey Weiss / The Dallas Morning News

Modern technology, employed in the service of age-old tradition, lets Avril Adelman watch her 10-year-old son singing at the end of Sabbath services.

Orthodox Judaism holds that men and women are to be separated during worship. Men aren't supposed to be able even to see women, though there is no restriction in the other direction.

Some rabbinic interpretations say that's because men are more easily distracted by women than the other way around. Other interpretations suggest that men are obligated to take a more active part in the ceremonies, hence their undivided attention is more important.

In any case, many old synagogues in this country and in Europe have balconies where women traditionally sat during services -- hidden from the view of the men.

But some synagogues are built without balconies. And that means a divider between men and women blocks the women's view of the ceremonies.

The visual barrier, called the mechitza (rhymes, sort of, with deck eats-a), is an important part of Orthodox tradition. But tradition is not intended to be a barrier to women's participation in worship.

Richard Axelbaum belongs to Young Israel of St. Louis, Mo., an Orthodox congregation. And he was aware that his synagogue's mechitza created problems for some women.

"There was a woman who was becoming observant who was hearing impaired," he said. "She had mentioned to me that when she was in shul temple on the Sabbath she could not hear the service or see what was going on."

He also knew of mothers or grandmothers unable to watch bar mitzvahs. And of other women who just wanted to feel more connected to the worship services.

Axelbaum teaches mechanical engineering at Washington University. His research investigates what happens to molecules in the heart of a flame. His tools include laser beams -- and the lenses and mirrors that direct and focus the laser light.

So when his temple started a construction project and his rabbi asked him if he could come up with a way to allow the women to see without creating a distraction for the men, Axelbaum drew upon his professional experience and got an idea.

He used what many people mistakenly call one-way glass -- the stuff used in police interrogation rooms that allows people to watch yet not be seen.

The glass is actually a lightly-silvered mirror that lets some light through from either direction. If the lighting on both sides is equal, people on both sides can see their reflection and -- somewhat dimly -- what's on the other side. But if one side of the glass is in darkness, someone on that side can see what's on the other while someone on the lighted side sees a reflection.

Some Orthodox synagogues have experimented with simply installing this glass in their mechitzas. But for it to work, the women's side needs to be kept dark -- too dark to read a prayerbook. And the men are faced with the distracting glare of a mirror reflection.

Axelbaum came up with a novel way to use the properties of the glass. He took a pane and set it at a 45-degree angle, inside a recessed alcove in the mechitza wall.

Above the mirror on the men's side, he placed a brightly colored wallpaper pattern. The women's side was set to reflect a black painted background. That means the men see the reflected wallpaper pattern, which effectively blocks their view of the women. But the dark background on the other side allows the women to easily see through.

The concept has a patent and a second St. Louis temple is installing one. And last month, the design won the first-ever Synagogue Innovation Award from the National Council of Young Israel.

"It lets me feel a part of the service," Adelman said.

At the end of the service at Young Israel of St. Louis, boys are allowed to come forward for the final prayers and songs. With a 5-foot-high wall blocking her view, she was never able to see watch her son. The glass mechitza changed that, she said.

"It's nice to see the younger boys," she said.

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