By Judy Roitman, October 2013

I am the daughter and granddaughter of cantors (my grandfather was the great David Roitman). I was raised in a Conservative-leading-towards-Orthodox home, with many Orthodox relatives. When, as an adult living in Lawrence, KS, I first witnessed a woman reading the Torah during services, I began to cry. Something integral to my life that I had not even known was missing was suddenly restored. Suddenly I understood what it was to be fully a Jew, and realized that I was indeed fully Jewish. Something wonderful happens when women fully participate, and it is the community at large which receives the benefits.

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