Yes, I did read the article, and as I pointed out in my post, I agreed with a lot of it. But "egalitarian," regardless of its dictionary definition, has come to mean something very specific in Jewish congregations. Michaelson's blog post draws on that definition before suggesting that we need to reconceptualize what it means to have an egalitarian congregation. My problem with his post is I think he diminishes the work women (and men) have done to build congregations where all genders can participate equally as a stepping stone to this new kind of egalitarianism, where everyone can access meaningful prayers. As I noted earlier, I think he's right to want to build better communities - but I also think he does something dangerous by asking whether or not maintaining egalitarianism in the Jewish-specific-sense should be a priority.
Also, as a side note - the JWA blog focuses on women and Jewish life. Gender isn't a hot-topic here, but the major topic and focus of most of our posts.
Hi Anonymous,
Yes, I did read the article, and as I pointed out in my post, I agreed with a lot of it. But "egalitarian," regardless of its dictionary definition, has come to mean something very specific in Jewish congregations. Michaelson's blog post draws on that definition before suggesting that we need to reconceptualize what it means to have an egalitarian congregation. My problem with his post is I think he diminishes the work women (and men) have done to build congregations where all genders can participate equally as a stepping stone to this new kind of egalitarianism, where everyone can access meaningful prayers. As I noted earlier, I think he's right to want to build better communities - but I also think he does something dangerous by asking whether or not maintaining egalitarianism in the Jewish-specific-sense should be a priority.
Also, as a side note - the JWA blog focuses on women and Jewish life. Gender isn't a hot-topic here, but the major topic and focus of most of our posts.
Leora