I’d like to commend the St. Louis Mikvah Association for being proactive in its efforts to protect the privacy and security of its patrons.

As soon as the unfortunate, shocking news regarding alleged misconduct at a Washington, D.C., mikvah became known, our mikvahs’ rabbinic and lay leadership responded quickly and immediately set out to assure that the privacy of our mikvaot (the Sylvia Greene Memorial Mikvah on the Millstone campus and the Rivkin-Zuckerman Mikvah in University City) had not been compromised.  A memo was sent out to its patrons outlining the security and privacy measures that are currently in place and plans for further enhancement.

Kudos to our mikvah leadership, both rabbinic and lay, for issuing and disseminating the memo. The memo has been reviewed by and enjoys the support of congregational rabbis, the mikvah attendants, the mikvah coordinator, the president and executive director of the Vaad Hoeir, and numerous mikvah patrons and community members.

I am proud that our rabbis were ahead of the game in showing their steadfast commitment to maintaining a safe, secure, and private environment.

I hope that anyone wishing to use the St. Louis Mikvah Association mikvahs will feel respected and safe, and that their interests are being protected.

Dr. Leila Redlich Biel, University City

Deeper issues raised in mikvah spying case

Recent allegations in Washington, D.C., that a prominent Orthodox rabbi violated the sanctity of the mikvah (ritual bath) by placing a hidden camera in the mikvah have had shattering effects in the Orthodox world.  Following the revelations in the news, each community, including our own, has felt the need to convene to reestablish norms for safety and privacy at the mikvah. To its credit, the St. Louis Mikvah Association took immediate steps in this regard and on Oct. 28 sent a memo to all mikvah patrons outlining stringent privacy policies to assure that our mikvah is a place of sanctity.    

The D.C. affair has also brought to the forefront of discussion the broader issue of power imbalance between men and women in Orthodoxy, an imbalance that enabled and holds such potential for the kind of misconduct alleged. I am optimistic that this imbalance is being addressed through the empowering of Torah and halacha study for women, preparing them to enter into the various halachic fields, to write, publish, and raise the female perspective; to discuss halachic matters with the sensitivities of their unique experience.  It is no longer hard to envision a growing involvement of women with senior halachic skills who can offer solutions at the highest levels of the debate — women who will be partners in establishing halakhic policy, especially in areas involving women’s issues, like mikvah, who will be an address for women as well as for men in their areas of expertise.   

While history provides us with salient examples of women scholars entering the halachic conversation, we are today witnessing the systematic training of Orthodox women providing them with the rigorous preparation necessary to enter as equals. Today, in Israel and the United States there are a growing number of Orthodox institutions training Morot Hora’ah (Israel), Yoatzot Halakha (Israel and the U.S.), Rabbanits (Israel), Maharats (the U.S.), and most recently, Dayanot (judges on Jewish religious courts) (Israel).  

We in St. Louis are fortunate to be one of a handful of communities to have a Maharat, a graduate of Yeshivat Marahat in New York City, which offers Orthodox women a classic rabbinic curriculum of kashrut, Shabbat, family purity, mourning, marriage and divorce. This training is complemented by an extensive curriculum of theological, social and psychological training for communal leadership. 

So let us take this opportunity to celebrate the inclusion of learned, trained women in Orthodox community religious leadership. This is not simply a case of a change for the sake of equal opportunity for women. This is primarily a societal imperative to help prevent the abuse of power we have witnessed in D.C. and to cease depriving ourselves of a reservoir of talented leadership.

Phyllis Shapiro, University City