…The Shira Hadasha Synagogue in the German Colony of Jerusalem is defined as an equal opportunities Orthodox institution. Women chant from the bima and serve as cantors where Halachah rules that even small children can serve as a shaliah tzibur (messenger for the public). Only when texts are viewed as sacred, men serve as cantors.
"Every time I go to Shira Hadasha, I'm deeply moved," said Dr Aliza Lavi of the Bar Ilan University, author of the book "Women Singing."
"It is wonderful to see and hear women, mothers and daughters, chanting together. After all, we are going back to our roots. In the 12th and 13th century, women were cantors in European synagogues. There were even women who were hired to pray for others because they spoke and understood the language."
There is something in a woman's voice that awakens the hearts and sets the minds on prayer mode, said Lavi. She does not mind the ban on women's voices. We need to examine who imposed the ban, she said, what did they want to uproot for good, and what happened to the wise men who viewed women as threats.
I have not researched this yet but, if women did serve as cantors (hazzanim, shalicha tzibbur) during the time of the Ba'alei Tosofot, Orthodoxy's gonna have a lot of explaining to do. What do you all think? Readers?