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Heart and Soul: 500th Anniversary of the Reformation: An Equal Partnership?

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A Jewish Women reads from the holy book the Torah

20/10/2017 GMT

An Equal Partnership?

500th Anniversary of the Reformation

BBC World Service - Heart and Soul, 500th Anniversary of the Reformation, An Equal Partnership?

Can mixed prayer groups lead to the ‘spiritual nourishment’ some Jewish women would like?

Mixed prayer groups have been growing in Orthodox Jewish communities. As part of the Reformation in Christianity season, Emma Barnett meets the women looking to change Judaism

Dotted around London, in the concentrated areas where Orthodox Jews have made their home, groups of believers meet to pray and share their faith. Nothing unusual in that, but what make these gatherings significant are that women are leading the prayers, and they are sharing their celebration with men, 

These prayer groups are called Partnership Minyans, and  have become a symbol of a major shift in Judaism making many traditional believers extremely uncomfortable

With a panel in London, Emma Barnett asks what does this mean for this deeply traditional faith?  Does this challenge to the structures of worship signal a new era of feminism with Orthodox Judaism?

In the second programme of our special series to mark the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation led by Martin Luther, which split the Catholic church, Emma leads a panel discussion from the JW3 centre in north London to meet the ‘reformers’ to explore how they want their faith to change its attitudes to women and those whose resistance to it is based on the centuries old deep teaching of their faith.

Presenter: Emma Barnett
Producer:  Richard McIlroy

Heart and Soul: 500th Anniversary of the Reformation

Heart & Soul explores and celebrates the idea of reform in the world’s major religions, and the women disrupting the status quo.

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Heart and Soul

500th Anniversary of the Reformation

An Equal Partnership?

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