To celebrate the Jewish festival of Purim, Jews of all ages wear costumes. As a costume/performance piece/intervention, I attended Purim services as a mechitza, a partition or barrier or balcony used to physically separate men and women in synagogue, mostly found in Orthodox congregations. The synagogue I went to in this costume has a mechitza, and I stood on the men’s side of the congregation.

Mechitzas are one of my least favorite objects in Jewish life.

As a young person I endured mechitzas of many kinds, especially abroad. I sat in synagogue balconies so far up that the rabbi and men below looked tiny and distant. I’ve been placed behind sheets, partial walls, and, in one instance, in a small windowless room with thin vents for us women to *hear,* but not see, the service. All in the name of not “distracting” the men with my femaleness during prayers.

Mechitzas are clearly sexist. They also assert/support a false, dangerous gender binary. I hope for a version of Jewish life one day that does not include them.