A few men continue to see the religious scriptures in the tightest possible understanding, because a few men by nature have not grown up, they are insecure and earn their false security by keeping women insecure. Its in every society with no exceptions. All we have to learn is not to slap the behavior of the individuals onto the entire population, as the majority does not practice misogyny, its anathema to them to treat mother, sister, daughter and a spouse less than themselves. Mike Ghouse

UK Orthodox shul condemned for letting women hold Torah

Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations slams practice as a ‘Reform-influenced breach’

http://www.timesofisrael.com/uk-orthodox-shul-condemned-for-letting-women-hold-torah/?utm_source=The+Times+of+Israel+Daily+Edition&utm_campaign=57906700ca-2013_11_30&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_adb46cec92-57906700ca-54484009

Illustrative photo: Members of Women of the Wall wear prayer shawls as they read from the Torah and pray at Robinson's Arch, near the Western Wall in Jerusalem March 12 (photo credit: Miriam Alster/Flash90

• British Jews
• Torah
• women's rights

Britain’s umbrella body of Orthodox communities is condemning a London Orthodox synagogue that allows women to hold Torah scrolls.

Earlier this year, Golders Green United Synagogue began giving women an opportunity to handle the Torah scroll on Shabbat mornings and festivals, and the change has been well received by members of the community, according to the shul’s chairman, Benny Chain. The Torah is taken out of the ark by a man and handed to a woman, who takes it around the women’s section before returning it to the men.

Rabbi Ephraim Padwa, head of the rabbinate of the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations, issued a statement condemning the practice as “Reform-influenced,” the Jewish Chronicle of London reported. Padwa said “breaches of this nature” came “from the influence of the Reform.”

The practice is uncommon but not unheard-of at Orthodox synagogues, and a growing number of American Orthodox shuls allow women to hold and dance with the Torah scrolls on Simchat Torah.

“People have said what an emotional experience it is and that they feel much more involved in the service,” Chain said of his shul’s change.