Source: New York Daily News

On February 19, 2000, the Daily News reported that the 3rd International Conference on Feminism and Orthodoxy will be held on February 20-21 at the Grand Hyatt hotel in midtown Manhattan to discuss the role of women in Orthodox Judaism. Although women and men are not seated together and women are still not counted in the minyan, many Orthodox synagogues have begun to let women recite the Kaddish, the ritual prayers of mourning. Blu Greenberg, president of the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance, estimates that the number of women who recite Kaddish at synagogue services is doubling every year. Greenberg spoke about the purposes of the conference: "They are not talking about counting women in the minyan...or about breaking down the mekhitzah. We aren't asking them to do that. What they are discussing are ways to make women feel more central. Maybe just better sight lines or the possibility of hearing better. Or maybe inviting women to teach in the synagogue."