In the January issue, we briefly examined the plight of the Agunah. An Agunah is an Orthodox Jewish woman condemned to live a life of quiet desperation because her husband will not grant her a religious divorce and often takes no responsibility to provide for her or their children.

Many Orthodox Jewish marriages, however, are wonderful; but even in those marriages, there still comes a time when the couple cannot be together – the synagogue. A place that one might imagine to be a locale where a Jewish couple could worship together is one place they are divided.

Orthodox men seek to pray as close to the Torah as possible. The closest seats are the most prized, because a man has a sense that the closer he is to the Torah scroll, the closer he is to God. An Orthodox woman is separated from the Torah and God by a curtain or by a balcony which divides men and women in the worship service. An Orthodox synagogue separates women from an intimate and personal relationship with God.

A vivid picture of the pain of this separation from God is found in Chaim Potok’s Davita’s Harp. Davita’s longing for God is so real that one aches for her as she attempts to find a way beyond the curtain that divides her from Jehovah. She longs for a relationship with a God that she does not understand but wishes to know better.

Now is the time for believers to share the truth of the Gospel. Jesus wants to have a personal and eternal relationship with all people