Sheldon Silver's Synagogue Not Keen On The Ladies

Bialystoker Synagogue, Sheldon Silver

New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver grew up in the historic Bialystoker Synagogue on the Lower East Side. He was Bar Mitzvahed there, and until last year served as the synagogues vice president. But many suspect he didn't run for re-election because of the Orthodox congregation's tradition of not allowing women to hold positions of authority. And now, that edict is beginning to cost the synagogue its members.

In May a majority of the congregation voted to allow women to run for board positions, but Rabbi Zvi David Dromm announced at a Saturday service that women were not allowed to hold positions of authority. Member Debra Engelmayer said, "I'm very unhappy about it," and called the move "disrespectful." Member Daniel Cohen said, "It's been a boy's club since Day One. I'd like to think that it's a progressive synagogue, but it's not." Women also still pray on an upper balcony, separate from the men.

The synagogue's president, Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Schlomo Hagler, was elected after the Rabbi's edict was made, but Engelmayer says several families and board members have left over the issue.

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By Jaya Saxena in News on September 12, 2010 5:24 PM

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Z

Been going to the shul since i was a baby, back when it was full. So full, you'd have to squeeze by people to get in on high holidays. Many changes throughout the years--obviously-both in the local demographic and progressive jewish movements (not to mention having OPTIONS), but go today, and it's empty, old and sad--on high holidays, when it should be brimming with the next generation of SOMETHING. There is no doubt that the synagogue is important for many reasons, but it needs to move forward or they will continue to suffer like the dozens of other shuls in the neighborhood. They've been trying, but need to try harder, and maybe take different approaches. Just maybe.

Another example is Sixth Street synagogue which knew that it needed to ramp up its efforts, and this year, after a few years of trying, they've sold out for the holiday.

Mickey7

It is fascinating that we are all ready to talk about freedom of worship for Muslims but somehow Americans seem to disdain Observant Jews and their way of religious life. There is gender separation in Orthodox synagogues and that is the domain of the Rabbi, not local elected officials even if they happen to be Speaker of the Assembly. There is complexity as to having women on boards and that is why so many synagogues have "sisterhoods." Some of those sisterhoods have more clout than the board depending on the individuals involved - and far more than women at mosques.

A friend of my attended the synagogue and found the spectacle of the NY Post reporter and photographer harassing worshipers for quotes to be disgraceful and disrespectful.

Dogsbody

So a group of people with some crazy irrational belief about an invisible man in the sky ALSO have a crazy irrational belief about the competency of women? I'm shocked!

ides_of_march

Next to the word "slimeball" in the dictionary should be a picture of this vile creature.

Brooklyn Book Worm

This temple has benefited from the influx of young Jewish families -- many of them immigrants from the former Soviet Union -- to the ILG-built non-profit co-ops at the east end of Grand Street. A new generation has new expectations.

The building itself reflects the inevitability of change. It was built as a rural Methodist church in 1836 but became a synagogue when waves of immigrants arrived a half-century later. Building the balcony for women was part of the conversion, as was covering walls with murals of the middle east.

Even the name is fateful. Bialystok, a city in what is now Eastern Poland, was a major center of Jewish culture in the 19th and early 20th century. (It gave us the bialy, as well as Talmudic scholarship.) But in the wake of the Holocaust, not a single Jew is left.

bonu$baby

Shelly will bend the rules in exchange for a bag of cash.

dschwarz

"Women also still pray on an upper balcony, separate from the men."

No kidding. Separation between men and women is customary in Orthodox synagogues. However, barring women from the Synagogue board is NOT customary, not required (and not justifiable, IMHO) in Orthodox or any other Jewish tradition.

CityStar

Regarding what your opinion is on a woman holding a leadership position in a synagogue is; the issue is about Jewish law, not about some random sexist discriminatory practice. Orthodoxy does have restrictions, and the discussion surrounding this reflects a law described by the Rambam, not contemporary tastes. This is a cheap shot to attack Sheldon Silver, just because the Orthodox shule he belongs to adheres to a Jewish code of law.