The Hebrew word meḥitsah literally means “division” or “partition wall.” It originally denoted the demarcation splitting the women’s prayer room in the synagogue from that of the men to protect the praying men from being distracted by the sight of the female gender. In a metaphorical sense, the term meḥitsah stands for the gender hierarchy in traditional Judaism. The spatial separation of men and women, which was…
Meḥitsah(4,268 words)
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Baskin, Judith R., “Meḥitsah”, in: Encyclopedia of Jewish History and Culture Online, Original German Language Edition: Enzyklopädie Jüdischer Geschichte und Kultur. Im Auftrag der Sächsischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig herausgegeben von Dan Diner. © J.B. Metzler, Stuttgart/Springer-Verlag GmbH Deutschland 2011–2017. Consulted online on 30 May 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2468-8894_ejhc_COM_0528>
First published online: 2017
First print edition: 20210312
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