Robert Lichtman’s recent article “No Men Allowed! This Means You!” (Jan. 16, 2025) raises an important conversation about preserving the ezrat nashim for women in shul. However, I believe the discussion misses critical context about the nature of weekday tefillah in Orthodox communities.

It is an obvious fact that during the week, many more men than women attend minyan. In a typical Orthodox shul in America, on a typical weekday minyan, you will see few, if any, women in attendance—excluding special circumstances such as a brit milah. This is due to a combination of cultural norms, time conflicts with other responsibilities, and halachic obligations. Halachically, men are obligated to daven with a minyan, while women, though encouraged to daven, are not obligated to do so with a minyan. As a result, the ezrat nashim in most shuls is sparsely populated, if not entirely empty, during the week.

Additionally, it’s worth highlighting a phenomenon observed in virtually every shul: If you arrive early to a weekday minyan, you’ll notice that men often leave seats in between themselves whenever possible, allowing themselves to have more personal space, which in turn fosters greater comfort and greater kavana in davening. As the minyan fills up, those gaps gradually close, but men generally seek to maintain a sense of personal space for as long as possible.

In most shuls, weekday attendance is overwhelmingly, if not exclusively, male, and the men’s section often becomes nearly full. At this point—well into tefillah—some men may glance toward the empty ezrat nashim. Far from being the selfish or disrespectful individuals described in Robert’s article, these men are simply trying to focus better on their davening in a crowded environment. Such dedication to enhancing their tefillah should be commended, not vilified.

The solution is to reconfigure the women’s section during the week to reflect actual attendance patterns. In the business world, this would be considered proper allocation of resources. While the specific setup will vary from shul to shul, I have personally been in minyanim where it was nearly impossible to concentrate due to crowding in the men’s section, while a single woman occupied a section with more than 50 seats.

Of course, women should always have a dedicated section during the week. If a woman finds that she focuses better with a minyan, she should absolutely be encouraged to attend and made to feel welcome. This conversation is simply about allowing men, who have a halachic obligation to daven with a minyan, to connect more meaningfully when the current setup prevents them from doing so. I also agree in principle that if there is sufficient room in the men’s section, men should not unnecessarily sit in the ezrat nashim, even if it is empty. If more women began attending weekday minyanim, then the seating arrangements should naturally be adjusted
to accommodate this increase, ensuring that everyone’s spiritual needs are met.

Reconfiguring shuls during the week to better reflect attendance patterns would allow for a more equitable and functional use of space. By allocating resources according to demand, we could ensure that both men and women have spaces conducive to meaningful tefillah.

Yaakov Berger
Monsey