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A ''mechitza'' (Hebrew: מחיצה, partition or division, pl.: מחיצות, ''mechitzot'') in Jewish Halakha is a partition, particularly one that is used to separate men and women. The rationale for a partition dividing men and women is given in the Babylonian Talmud (Sukkah 51b, 52a). A divider in the form of a balcony was established in the Temple in Jerusalem for the occasion of the ''Simchat Beit Hasho'evah'' (Water Drawing Ceremony) on Sukkot, a time of great celebration and festivity. The divider was first established to preserve modesty and attention during this time. During the middle portion of the 20th century, there were a substantial number of synagogues which considered themselves Orthodox but did not have one.〔Lucette Lagnado, (Prayer Behind the Partition ) Wall Street Journal, March 27, 2007〕 However, the Orthodox Union (OU), the main body of Modern Orthodox synagogues in the United States, adopted a policy of not accepting synagogues without mechitzot as new members, and strongly encouraging existing synagogues to adopt them.〔 Men and women are generally not separated in most Conservative synagogues, although it is a permissible option within Conservative Judaism; some Conservative synagogues, particularly in Canada, have one or have separate seating for men and women without a physical partition. Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism, consistent with their view that traditional religious law is not mandatory in modern times and a more liberal interpretation of gender roles, do not use mechitzot in their synagogues.〔Religion Journal. Reform Jews Examining Ways to Retain Their Young Men. Published February 4, 2006 by Debra Nussbaum-Cohen.〕 ==Origin== Although the synagogue mechitza is not mentioned anywhere in Talmudic literature, there is a discussion of the barrier (''tiqqun gadol'', "great institution") at the Sukkoth festivities in the Jerusalem Temple. The Amoraic sage Abba Arika (known as Rav) explains that the divider originated with a statement of the prophet Zechariah regarding the mourning following the war between Gog and Magog: :The land will mourn each of the families by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of Nathan by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Levi by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of Shimei by itself and their wives by themselves; and all the families who remain, each of the families by itself and their wives by themselves. Zechariah 12:12-14. () The rabbis of the Talmud reasoned that if such a sad occasion necessitates a separation between men and women, then the Simchat Beit HaShoeivah in the Temple in Jerusalem, considered the happiest Jewish occasion, does as well. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「mechitza」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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