Orthodox group permits women to dance with Torah scrolls

JERUSALEM — Women are permitted to dance with a Torah scroll on the Simhat Torah holiday, a national religious rabbinical organization has ruled.

The Beit Hillel organization posted the religious ruling on its website.

The ruling also encourages synagogues to be more inclusive of the elderly, youth and people with disabilities during the holiday celebration, which includes seven circuits of the Torah scrolls with singing and dancing.

In the Orthodox community women generally are not permitted to read from the Torah scroll or hold a Torah scroll.

“Women who see this as important are permitted to dance with a Torah scroll or around a Torah which is on a table in the middle of the dancing,” the religious ruling read.

“In our generation, many women are active partners in prayers and classes as they are in other parts of community life. … If women’s participation on Simhat Torah amounts to watching from the women’s section or arranging the tables for kiddush then this is a sad fact.”

The ruling also recommended other ideas for involving women more in Simhat Torah celebrations, including designating a woman as the Kallat Torah, or bride of the Torah, in the same way as a man is designated as the Chatan Torah, or groom of the Torah, and to make sure there is enough dance space for the women, as well as consulting with the women on the songs that will be sung.