In traditional Judaism, a service can be held without a rabbi but not without a minyan (congregation) often men aged 13 or over. In emergencies nine men and a young boy will do; women have not counted at all. The liberal Reform branch of Judaism has no such sex rule, and last week the middle-of-the-road Conservative branch announced that it too was abandoning the tradition. The 9-4 vote by the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards is a natural outgrowth of the Conservative branch's earlier move to provide religious education for women, and of...
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