...Or as Susan Weidman Schneider names it in her chapter title, "Consequences of Women's Exclusion from Jewish Religious Obligations."

Ever been told you “don’t belong” somewhere… and then realized that voice followed you long after you left the room?

👉🏻 Welcome to the historical, socio-emotional architecture of many Jewish women's mental mechitza 🚧 💭

In this episode, I share the story of being eleven years old, curled up next to my dad in synagogue — until one day, a man told me I was “too old” and sent me to the Women's Section - the other side of the mechitza. That moment became a blueprint for the invisible messages so many Jewish women internalize: Judaism isn’t yours.

Inside this episode:
✨ The difference (but also the connection) between the physical mechitza and the mental one
✨ How generations of exclusion quietly shake our confidence
✨ Why representation changes what communities imagine is possible (and why it can take a couple of extra generations to get the engine up and running)
✨ How to start dismantling your own mental mechitza with tiny, brave steps
✨ Why the women “gossiping” in shul were actually preserving resilience

Book mentioned: Modern Responsa: An Anthology of Jewish Ritual and Ethical Decisions
👉 Link: Click here to purchase via my link. 

This episode is a love letter to the women who keep Judaism alive from the sidelines — and a roadmap for stepping into the center with courage, skill, and unapologetic presence.