Last year, members of many orthodox synagogues in the UK created “partnership minyanim” in which women as well as men read from the Torah and were called up.

Surprisingly, the classic rabbinic sources are more open to this practice than are many of today’s rabbis. One article, opposing the introduction of aliyot for women, complained that these women were following “text-based tradition” rather than simply copying what their mothers had done.

In order to shed more light on this debate, and in order to honour a dear friend, I have translated and posted some relevant rabbinic sources here. I hope that these will be of use to the public and will encourage informed debate on this important issue.