Re: Kol Isha

[Steven M. Singer <ssinger...>]

On Fri, 24 Sep 1999 meydele (at) ix(dot)netcom(dot)com wrote:

> Do you make it clear to Orthodox groups that there are 2 
> configurations of your group and they can choose the mixed one?  Would it hurt
> your marketing to do so? 

When I feel that there is a possibility of having the mixed group perform,
that is what I suggest.  However, sometimes it is clear as day that an all
male group is needed.  At the present, none of our marketing materials
show any bias to different audiences.  I simply put a line at the bottom
of our newspaper ads that say "all male ensemble available".

> It took women in the US more than 50 years of organizing at all levels of 
> militancy to get the 
> vote.  But it was a movement started by women, not by men, that ultimately 
> changed societal 
> perceptions of what is appropriate.  Same thing with civil rights for 
> African-Americans.  So, what 
> can we as musicians and interested members of the greater Jewish community do 
> to effect change, 
> even if in small, incremental steps, on this issue?

I think that suffrage and civil rights arguments cannot be equated with
the supposed "chauvinism" of Jewish Orthodoxy.  Women hold a revered and
important place in the Orthodox theology and practice.  As far as "civil
rights" progress, I think that the mere presence of the "egalitarian"
movement has already established that women, and not just men can
participate in the ritual aspects of Judaism.

-S


> 
> Shira  
> 
> 

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