Presence

The CS Monitor has picked up on the Beth Tfiloh mechitzah story (the Jewish Times reported it a few weeks ago).

I suppose it's a good thing that R. Wohlberg is finding support within the congregation for re-instituting traditional practices (this seems to be happening across the denominations, these days), but the barter method employed makes me a bit uncomfortable. I understand that the membership of Beth Tfiloh is quite diverse, but getting a mechitzah in exchange for altering the nusach haTefiloh seems counterproductive. The goal, I would think, is not to simply elevate the congregation to some accepted (or expected) level of observance, but to try to progress them into a halachic lifestyle. As far as I know, a barter system of rituals and practices is outside of halacha. This sort of halachic accomadation is not found at the communal level. Throwing the dissenting faction the proverbial bone will only keep them occupied for so long. Sooner or later, they'll be back at the table, begging for more scraps.

This, I guess, would be the challenge for Modern Orthodoxy today; to take a Modern congregation, where the congregants hold the ideals of modernity, particularly the ideal of individuality, in high esteem, and educate them as to how they can retain these ideals within a religious/legal context. This is no small task, and I certainly don't have any answers.

R. Wohlberg's sermons are available online, see the link in the sidebar.