Unlike most Orthodox Jewish synagogues, Beth Sholom Congregation in Potomac has provided a women’s tefillah — prayer — group for almost 20 years.
The group, which meets once or twice a month on Saturday mornings, offers female congregants the opportunity to read from the Torah in a public prayer service, an act that historically has not been common within Orthodox Judaism.
Some synagogues, including Beth Sholom, promote gender equity in ways that abide by halacha, the Jewish religious laws and practices that govern Jewish life. One such method is to hold a women’s group separate from the main prayer service.
“This idea is definitely not done in most Orthodox prayer services,” Rabbi Nissan Antine of Beth Sholom said. “The synagogues that are more open or on the progressive side or are trying to do things that they can within the constraints of Orthodox Jewish legal practice, those synagogues that are trying to expand are doing it, but it’s definitely a minority of synagogues that are doing it. We’re very proud to be part of that.”
“The goal of allowing women to have greater ritual participation overrides the fact that maybe it hasn’t been done before,” Antine said.
Lynn Charytan, the lead gabbai, was among the founders of Beth Sholom Women’s Tefillah when the group’s meetings were Saturday afternoon mincha services. When it was shifted to Saturday mornings in 2011, interest grew and the group expanded. Today, anywhere between 50 to 100 women and girls attend Women’s Tefillah.
Antine has been supportive of the initiative in his 18 years of serving as rabbi of Beth Sholom, according to Zahava Hurwitz, who leads Women’s Tefillah. Antine’s wife, Sarah Antine, offered a Torah reading class for women and has taught many women to read Megillah over the years in preparation for their bat mitzvahs.
“I support it in every way I can,” Rabbi Antine said, adding that he helps the Women’s Tefillah group behind the scenes. “It gives [my wife and daughters] a feeling of spiritual community, of feeling at home, a feeling that they matter, that they’re important.”
When Hurwitz first came to Beth Sholom 13 years ago, she said she had never read from the Torah. She has since added opportunities for women to get involved — women at Beth Sholom now read all five Megillot on various Jewish holidays, offer women’s Kabbalat Shabbat on select Fridays, and meet on Saturday mornings four to five times throughout the year for prayer services.
“It’s one of my favorite things,” Hurwitz said of the latter.
Rabbi Antine said women should be given the opportunity to take on leadership roles within the synagogue because of the spiritual impact of prayer.
“It’s very, very powerful to be able to read from the Torah in a traditional setting,” Rabbi Antine said. “Men have been doing that exclusively. I know for myself, it’s very powerful whenever I get to read from the Torah, and I think it gives me a much deeper understanding of the Torah. From a spiritual perspective, it makes us feel like God is talking directly to us from the Torah; it feels like a divine interaction, and I think women should have the opportunity to have that as well.”
Hurwitz expressed a similar sentiment, saying that she better understood the Torah by engaging with the text, and is grateful that she has the means to pass this knowledge onto other women.
“In my experience, when you learn to read Torah, it really elevates your understanding of the parshah,” Hurwitz said. “It adds emotion, it adds emphasis, because you are really internalizing the [content].”
Women’s Tefillah spans Potomac’s Orthodox Jewish community, with a notable number of teenagers in attendance.
“It’s just remarkable that I think at this point, the majority of the people reading Torah are teenagers,” Hurwitz said, adding that a teen must have become bat mitzvah to participate in Women’s Tefillah.
She said Beth Sholom Women’s Tefillah is holding a “Teen Takeover” on Jan. 11, 2025, during which the younger congregants will lead the service in its entirety.
Kira Koplow, a ninth grader, regularly reads Torah at Women’s Tefillah since celebrating her bat mitzvah at Beth Sholom Women’s Tefillah.
“It’s really empowering to be in a room full of all women who can do everything,” Koplow wrote in an emailed statement. “It’s definitely my favorite part of every month.”
Every week during Beth Sholom’s main service, Hurwitz said women read the prayers for the United States government, for Israel, and for Jews in distress: “There’s the visibility of women in the service all year round and I think that is unique to Beth Sholom among other communities.”
“People are very proud of [Women’s Tefillah],” Hurwitz said. “They’re really proud that this is a signature program for the synagogue. They’re happy that they have the chance to do it; I think it just makes them feel engaged all year round.”
