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kol isha, agency, and women reading torah
There is an issue in halacha called kol isha, which literally means "a woman's voice". The idea is that a woman's voice -- specifically a singing voice, according to B'rachot 24a -- will arouse men in the same way that seeing her hair (or certain body parts, and I don't just mean the naughty bits) will. So just as women are to cover their hair and wear modest garments to keep men from sinning, so too are they to refrain from singing around men. (Well, at least solo; being in a group can mitigate.)
I'd long assumed that kol isha is the reason women can't read torah (except in women's groups) in traditional communities. But I've thought of an argument against that position, which probably means that either the argument is wrong or this isn't a kol-isha issue to begin with. (I tend to assume that no halachic argument that turns out to be correct would be original to me, because I don't have the vast knowledge base yet.)
Ok, here goes. There is a state that people and objects can be in called tamei, which is a sort of ritual impurity. (This is sometimes translated as "unclean", but it has nothing to do with physical cleanliness.) If, for example, you come into contact with a corpse, you are tamei for a period of time. You can transmit that status to objects that you touch, and they too are tamei for a period of time. The only time this really matters is in worship -- it really only mattered when the temple stood (nothing tamei inside the courtyard), but I wouldn't be surprised if the concept applies to worship more generally in some ways. (Like, can a coroner ever lead services? I have no idea. But this is a tangent.)
I have learned (can't cite a source but believe it to be valid) that a sefer torah (a torah scroll) can never become tamei, no matter what it comes into contact with. (It can become non-kosher (pasul), but that's completely different.) So, why can't a sefer torah be tamei? Because it contains words of torah, which are inherently holy and can't be made impure. If so for the written form of torah, so too for the oral form? Isn't chanting torah, conveying the words from the sefer torah, inherently holy (and thus not lewd or suggestive)? Can such a reading (if done correctly) be made inappropriate in any way?
There are arguments (having to do with agency) for why women can't lead services, but torah-reading is different. Men are obligated to pray and can't be led by a woman who isn't obligated, but no one is obligated to read torah. People are obligated to hear torah being read. So I don't think the agency argument applies.
I can think of two issues that would arise from this. First, if the prohibition really is about kol isha, wouldn't that imply that a woman could read torah but not chant it? Kol isha is about singing. (And I've been to traditional congregations where the reader read without chanting, so this seems to be permitted.) And second, if agency is really about doing versus hearing as I've speculated, does that mean that women can do other things which we must hear but not necessarily do, like blowing the shofar on Rosh Hashana and reading the megillah on Purim?
I plan to ask my rabbi about this when we meet next week, since it was studying kol isha with him that set this speculation in motion to begin with.
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OK- this is actually covered directly in the Talmud. The response to the Q of women having aliyot was No, because of Kavod Ha Tzibbur. (Honor of the Congregation.) It also includes Kol Issha in there, but I don't think it was the same area. However, many Modern Ortho rabbis (or at least the left wing ones) at this point consider Kol Issha impossible if it's torah, like you said.
There is *no* obligation to read torah. It's only custom, not actual obligation, like davening for males. So now the only reason you can't have a women (or a child) get an aliyah is kavod ha tzibbur.
That is to say... it would embarrass the men in the room if a woman got an aliyah, since it would imply that none of them could do so. This was written in a time when the person getting the aliyah read from the torah as well.
There was no Baal Koreh at the time, thus the implication.
So, let's go with the assumption that your rabbi goes w/ the no kol issha for torah, or one of a few other ways of making kol issha not an issue. (I don't know them in depth. Sorry.) How do you deal w/the whole Honor thing?
1) You don't. Meh.
2) You make it a non-tzibbur.
3) You make a new tzibbur, set up under the idea that you will have such a thing, and that anyone joining will have to be aware of, so as to not embarrass themselves.
#1... Standard answer.
#2... A tzibbur is a group that comes together to pray, with a schedule, etc, and has some permanency. A pickup minyan at someone's home after a BBQ... not a tzibbur. (or at least it can be very well argued.) Mechitza issues can be interesting in these situations, btw. I've actually been to the Kotel and had a pickup minyan with no physical mechitza.. just a separation between folks. Really should ask the roommate/rabbi about it.
Alternatively, a torah reading outside the main shul would do it, since it isn't usual.
This is actually the principal under which my shul operates, under a p'sak by R. Halivni. It's actually all about *mixed* reading, instead of women only.. since you need to have the 10 men for minyan in it, and the reader & aliyah holder have to be on the same side of the mechitza, and it has to be outside the main minyan, and the first few have to be men, due to Kohen & Levi. (Bat Kohen & Levi just aren't the same...)
Oh, we also only have them at special events.. Bat mitzvah, aufruf, serious Gommel, naming a girl, (or child birth, in case of a boy where they had a bris) Has to be requested, has to be a member of the shui. etc...
FYI- our shul is not officially Ortho. Halachic, but not affiliated. I believe we use Post-Denominational :-) It is NYC :-)
#3. The principal under which & Shirra Chadasha in Jerusalem & Darkei Noam in NYC + others operate.
look at: http://www.jofa.org/social.php/ritual/synagogue/partnershipm/ It has a bunch of the others, as well as the source article that sparked most of the mixed reading minyans - the one by Mendel Shapiro. The JOFA site has more stuff, check under Ritual, then Synogogue. Mixed Torah has some more stuff, including the Sperber article.
These minyans consider themselves Orthodox. They meet every week, or try to (DN has rent issues, with space being a fortune here in NYC.)
By making a new tzibbur, it's hard to argue that anyone walking in wouldn't know the deal, etc... thus, no embarrassment to the men when a woman reads, or gets an aliyah.
BTW- they don't mix & match gender.. that would be tough. The reader, aliyah, & gabbi/gabbiit are the same gender, and on the same side of the mechitza.
For more info, read the articles.. they'll do this much more justice than I can.. I learned this with my shul when we went with option #2...
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I've had the occasional problem at a mincha minyan at a wedding. I tend to stand off to the side, anyway, but sometimes a guy will challenge my right to be davening with the minyan. Luckily it's never worked out so I had to abandon mincha with a minyan.
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I was on the verge of bringing up kavod ha-tzibbur but didn't. But since you did... :-)
If the issue is that having a woman read would embarrass the men in the congregation (who ought to have that skill and maybe don't), then isn't that a reason to always have a professional ba'al kri'ah? I mean, if a random man from the congregation does the reading, doesn't that also embarrass other men who can't? If, however, you hire a professional reader, then everyone can take solace in the notion that he's got special training and so there is no danger of embarrassment to everyone else.
Yet congregations do not always have professional or even regular readers; different people read at different times. As soon as you start doing that, don't you risk noticing that Shmuel over there has read six times this year and Aharon hasn't read at all, so maybe we should offer Aharon (who lacks the skill) the opportunity?
By the way, I don't think offering a woman an aliya (or chance to read) implies that no man can do so, because there is no clear precedence if everyone is equally obligated. So yes, if if were leading t'filah (and you got around agency) having a woman lead would imply that no man can, but men are not more obligated in the torah service than women are, are they? Among equally-obligated people there is no presumption of embarrassment or judgement if you choose one person over another; you've got to choose someone, after all.
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Now... this has *no* relevance to women & minyan, or women being shaliach tzibbur. Those are a much larger problem from a feminist orthodox prospective. It really all comes down to.. men & women are different. It's not a double standard... it's 2 different games. I doubt we'll see any real movement in our lifetime on those issues, baring some amazingly twisted thinking.
Now... Female Ortho Rabbis... well... that's a bit easier. They probably won't get the title.. but i bet it's coming soon.
(Oh- you don't need a pro reader now, because we all understand that it's not a skill everyone has. The only reason to deal with it so formally in women's cases is that it's an explicit reason given by the talmud, and we're basically stuck with it. So they formed a new minyan, with that as a guiding principle, and *poof*, it's no longer an issue. Converting an existing minyan would be tough, since everyone might not agree... but a new minyan- well, don't join if you don't agree.)