The Woman in Reform Judaism 141
dealt with the issues of social justice and mosaic and rabbinic law, it did not in any of these areas mention women or women's rights. Kaufman Kohler did not include any statement on women in his original draft of the“Principles.” On several occasions there were references to“man” and in section eight he dealt with the“barriers separating men from men, class from class, and sect from sect....” This would have been a perfect place to deal with the issue of women’s equality. As we have no detailed record of the discussion, we do not know why it was omitted. Nor were these issues raised in those sessions that treated some very practical questions faced by the American rabbinate.3
Each of these last- century rabbinic conferences protected the woman and provided additional rights as well as a status different to the Orthodox tradition; however, without providing either a philosophical or halakhic basis. Traditional authorities were quoted, but no one except Geiger made an effort to build on them.
Many other matters not discussed at all had simply fallen into disuse. Nidah, which plays such an important role in the rabbinic literature and also in the responsa, was not mentioned in any of the deliberations. Nor was miqueh an item of significance. Some modern synagogues had a migueh, but most did not. In the prayerbooks the offensive berakhah was simply omitted or changed in various ways within the birkhat hashahar. There was no debate specifically about this berakhah for women. The introductions that sought to justify the changes made in the liturgies did not deal with feminist issues at all.
As most women's issues were not contested by the Orthodox, the Reformers did not feel compelled to provide a halakhic defense, in contrast to the issues of praying in the vernacular, using an organ, eliminating prayers or the abbreviating the synagogue service.
The most substantial and visible American change, mixed seating, simply occurred, perhaps first with Isaac Mayer Wise in Albany in 1846, along with a mixed choir used earlier in Europe , without debate. Interestingly, Alexander Kohut , the Conserva tive rabbi who arrived in New York in 1884 stated that he would not opposed mixed seating if it enhanced the piety of the congregation and if a halakhic basis for it could be found.?* There was no theoretical discussion of this major change in synagogue