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Women rabbis and Torah scholars: Difference between revisions

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The status of women rabbis in contemporary Orthodox Judaism began to change in the mid-1990s and early 2000s. Theoretically, even within the Orthodox framework, the complex problem of women in the rabbinate may be dealt with by separating the various aspects of the role of the rabbi and to treat each matter separately, leaving aspects of the role open and others closed.<ref name=disegni/> Positions and views on the matter vary by subgroup within Orthodoxy. Additionally, there are regional differences on the acceptance of the change. Notwithstanding the developments that have taken place, the subject is still a contested matter within Orthodox Judaism.<ref name="auto8"/>
 
In terms of the first women's rabbinical ordination within Orthodoxy, early individual cases involve ordination without public knowledge, without a formal title, or for a woman serving a non-Orthodox congregation. [[Mimi Feigelson]], a student of Rabbi [[Shlomo Carlebach]] was reportedly ordained in 1994 by a panel of three rabbis, after Carlebach's death, and kept secret until 2000.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/21/us/ordained-as-rabbis-women-tell-secret.html|title=Ordained As Rabbis, Women Tell Secret|website=The New York Times|date=December 21, 2000|first=Laurie|last=Goodstein}}</ref> Also in 2000, Orthodox rabbi Jonathan Chipman ordained [[Eveline Goodman-Thau]] in Jerusalem.<ref name=JVLib/> Goodman-Thau later went on to serve as the first female rabbi in [[Austria]] for a liberal congregation.<ref name="goodmanthau">{{cite web |url=http://spme.net/cgi-bin/facultyforum.cgi?ID=456 |title=Faculty Forum – A very special welcome to Rabbi Eveline Goodman-Thau |publisher=SPME |date=October 18, 2000|accessdate=February 18, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120427043059/http://spme.net/cgi-bin/facultyforum.cgi?ID=456 |archive-date=April 27, 2012|url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2006, [[Dina Najman]] was ordained by Rabbi [[Daniel Sperber]] and was appointed to perform rabbinic functions for Kehilat Orach Eliezer in Manhattan, New York, using the title of "rosh kehilah," not "rabbi."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://jewishjournal.com/uncategorized/223769/rosh-kehilah-dina-najman-celebrating-unique-rebbe-time/|title=Rosh Kehilah Dina Najman: Celebrating a Unique Rebbe For Our Time|website=The New York Times|date=August 30, 2017}}</ref><ref name=nyt210806>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/21/nyregion/21rabbi.html|title=An Orthodox Jewish Woman, and Soon, a Spiritual Leader|website=The New York Times|date=August 21, 2006|last1=Luo|first1=Michael}}</ref> Similarly, in 2006, [[Haviva Ner-David]]<ref>Originally Haviva Krasner-Davidson</ref> was privately ordained by Rabbi Aryeh Strikovsky in Israel.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://jwa.org/rabbis/narrators/ner-david-haviva|title = Haviva Ner-David}}</ref> In 2009, the status quo was further altered with the public ordination of [[Sara Hurwitz]]. Hurwitz was ordained by Rabbis [[Avi Weiss]] and Daniel Sperber. Although Weiss headed the rabbinical school Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, Hurwitz was trained at [[Drisha Institute|Drisha]], an all-women's institute. Other key elements to Hurwitz's ordination was Weiss's formally founding of [[Yeshivat Maharat]] as a new rabbinical institution for the purpose of training Orthodox women as clergy which would be headed by Hurwitz. Additionally, Weiss, Sperber and other rabbis issued rabbinic responsa concerning women's ordination within Orthodoxy.<ref name=JWAhur1>{{cite web|website=Jewish Women's Archive|url=https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/hurwitz-sara|title=Profile: Sara Hurwitz}}</ref><ref name=JWAhur2>{{Cite web|url=https://jwa.org/rabbis/narrators/hurwitz-sara|title=Sara Hurwitz|website=Jewish Women's Archive}}</ref><ref>Kleinberg, D. (2012). Orthodox Women (Non-)Rabbis. ''CCAR Journal: The Reform Jewish Quarterly'', ''59''(2), 80–99.</ref> Hurwitz's rabbinic title was initially "[[maharat]]", an acronym of ''manhiga hilkhatit rukhanit Toranit'', (authority of Jewish law and spirituality).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://yeshivatmaharat.org/|title=home – Yeshivat Maharat|access-date=February 1, 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728175952/http://yeshivatmaharat.org/|archive-date=July 28, 2011|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Hurwitz later came to use the title "Rabba".<ref name=JWAhur1/><ref name=JWAhur2/> Hurwitz is the first woman rabbi in American Orthodox Judaism and is thus often described as the first Orthodox woman rabbi.<ref>Dunaevsky, M. I. (2012). the Twenty-First Century. The Wiley-Blackwell History of Jews and Judaism, 514.</ref><ref>Eilberg, A. (2012). Spiritual Activism: A Jewish Guide to Leadership and Repairing the World. Conservative Judaism, 63(4), 108–110.</ref><ref>Wessinger, C. (2020). Introduction: Why Study Women in Religions?. In Theory of Women in Religions (pp. 1–18). New York University Press.</ref>
 
* '''North America''' — Orthodox Judaism in North America is the site where significant changes in relation to women's ordination have occurred, however, major North American Orthodox institutions, including the [[Orthodox Union]],<ref name="auto8"/> the [[Rabbinical Council of America]], and [[Agudath Israel of America]] do not recognize women rabbis and deem the change as violating rabbinic tradition.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jta.org/2015/11/01/news-opinion/united-states/rabbinical-council-of-america-officially-bans-ordination-and-hiring-of-women-rabbis |title=Rabbinical Council of America officially bans ordination and hiring of women rabbis |publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |year=2015 |access-date=November 1, 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151104034718/http://www.jta.org/2015/11/01/news-opinion/united-states/rabbinical-council-of-america-officially-bans-ordination-and-hiring-of-women-rabbis |archive-date=November 4, 2015 |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://hamodia.com/2015/11/03/moetzes-open-orthodoxy-not-a-form-of-torah-judaism/|title=Moetzes: 'Open Orthodoxy' Not a Form of Torah Judaism|work=Hamodia|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151108125327/http://hamodia.com/2015/11/03/moetzes-open-orthodoxy-not-a-form-of-torah-judaism/|archive-date=November 8, 2015|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="auto5"/><ref name="auto6"/><ref name="auto1">{{cite web|url=http://www.momentmag.com/do-1-rabba-2-rabbis-and-1-yeshiva-a-new-denomination/|title=Do 1 Rabba, 2 Rabbis and 1 Yeshiva = a New Denomination?|author=Staff|date = March 8, 2013|work=Moment Magazine|access-date=March 21, 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523010556/http://www.momentmag.com/do-1-rabba-2-rabbis-and-1-yeshiva-a-new-denomination/|archive-date=May 23, 2013|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Orthodox rabbinic opposition is not singular in nature and the rabbinical organisations invoke both Jewish legalism (''halacha'') as well as rabbinic tradition (''mesorah'') to maintain their position. Additionally, the invocation of rabbinic tradition which is understood as a "meta-legal" (meta-''halachik'') concern has become more prominent than the religious legal concern. However, the nature of the meta-legal argument is viewed as a uniquely modern argument developed by Orthodox rabbis to counter social pressures of the modern period.<ref>Burman, C. (2021). The invocation of mesorah in contemporary Orthodox Jewish legal discourse: polysemic and reified usages. ''Journal of Modern Jewish Studies'', ''20''(1), 22–43.</ref> Similarly, scholars point out that the opposition of the Rabbinical Council of America is not explicitly based on Jewish law but on an opposition to the changing of norms in modernity.<ref>Eleff, Z., & Farber, S. (2020). Antimodernism and Orthodox Judaism's Heretical Imperative: An American Religious Counterpoint. Religion and American Culture, 30(2), 237–272.</ref> The historical context for the opposition followed the changes adopted by the Reform and Conservative denominations in the 1970s and 1980s, when the question of women rabbis within Orthodox Judaism in North America also became subject to debate. Calls for Orthodox yeshivas to admit women as rabbinical students were initially met with total opposition. Rabbi [[Norman Lamm]], one of the leaders of [[Modern Orthodox Judaism|Modern Orthodoxy]] and [[Rosh Yeshiva]] of [[Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary]] (RIETS), opposed ordaining women, arguing it would negatively disrupt the Orthodox tradition.<ref>(Helmreich, 1997)</ref> Other Orthodox rabbis criticized the request as contrary to Jewish Law, viewing Orthodox Judaism as specifically prohibiting women from receiving ordination and serving as rabbis.<ref>Friedman, Moshe Y'chiail, "Women in the Rabbinate", ''Jewish Observer'', 17:8, 1984, 28–29.</ref> In 2009, Rabbi [[Avi Weiss]] ordained [[Sara Hurwitz]] with the title "maharat" as an alternate title to "rabbi".<ref name="Forward 50">{{cite news|url=http://www.forward.com/forward-50-2009/|title=Forward 50, 2009|last=Eisner|first=Jane|date=November 14, 2009|publisher=The Forward|access-date=March 13, 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100323103209/http://www.forward.com/forward-50-2009/|archive-date=March 23, 2010|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c52_a16167/Editorial__Opinion/Gary_Rosenblatt.html |title=Between a Rav and a Hard Place |access-date=September 15, 2014|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090627205247/http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c52_a16167/Editorial__Opinion/Gary_Rosenblatt.html |archive-date=June 27, 2009 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Since Hurwitz's ordination, and Weiss' founding of [[Maharat|Yeshivat Maharat]] as a formal institution to provide ordination, the number of Orthodox women rabbis has grown;<ref name="auto"/><ref name="Rabbi Lila Kagedan"/> however, not all use the title of "rabbi" and instead use other variations such as "rabba", "rabbanit", maharat", and "darshanit".<ref name="Heeb">{{cite news|url=http://www.heebmagazine.com/rabba-sara-hurwitz-rocks-the-orthodox/|title="Rabba" Sara Hurwitz Rocks the Orthodox|date=March 10, 2010|work=Heeb Magazine|access-date=March 13, 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100520031945/http://www.heebmagazine.com/rabba-sara-hurwitz-rocks-the-orthodox/|archive-date=May 20, 2010|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="auto2">''Canadian Jewish News'' [http://www.cjnews.com/living-jewish/jewish-learning/why-orthodox-judaism-needs-female-rabbis Why Orthodoxy Needs Female Rabbis] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151126131555/http://www.cjnews.com/living-jewish/jewish-learning/why-orthodox-judaism-needs-female-rabbis |date=November 26, 2015 }}, November 25, 2015</ref><ref name="auto3">{{cite web|last=Wolfisz |first=Francine |url=http://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/dina-brawer-becomes-uks-first-female-orthodox-rabbi/ |title=Dina Brawer becomes UK's first female Orthodox rabbi &#124; Jewish News |work=The Times of Israel |access-date=May 10, 2018}}</ref><ref name="auto4">{{cite web |url=http://www.yeshivatmaharat.org/class-of-2018/ |title=Class of 2018 — Yeshivat Maharat |publisher=Yeshivatmaharat.org |access-date=May 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180404161818/http://www.yeshivatmaharat.org/class-of-2018 |archive-date=April 4, 2018 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> In North America, the [[Orthodox Union]], a central rabbinic organization of [[modern Orthodox Judaism]] has taken the position<ref>{{Cite web |title=OU-Statement.pdf |url=https://www.ou.org/assets/OU-Statement.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215045852/https://www.ou.org/assets/OU-Statement.pdf |archive-date=February 15, 2017 |access-date=July 27, 2022 |website=OU.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Responses-of-Rabbinic-Panel.pdf |url=https://www.ou.org/assets/Responses-of-Rabbinic-Panel.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170216060733/https://www.ou.org/assets/Responses-of-Rabbinic-Panel.pdf |archive-date=February 16, 2017 |access-date=July 27, 2022 |website=OU.org}}</ref> that it will not admit any synagogue as a new member organization if the synagogue employs women as clergy. However, four synagogues have been exempt from this ban as they are long-standing members of the Orthodox Union.<ref>{{Cite web|title=IRF Statement {{!}} IRF Reacts to Recent OU Statement|url=https://www.internationalrabbinicfellowship.org/news/irf-reacts-to-recent-ou-statement|access-date=April 28, 2021|website=Int'lRabbinicFellow|language=en}}</ref> The opposition from the major rabbinic associations thas restricted Orthodox women rabbinical candidates and graduates to a few select institutions. Countering the position of the Rabbinical Council of America, the [[International Rabbinic Fellowship]], a collective of Orthodox rabbis, have affirmed a position to accept women in clerical roles and advocates for the phenomenon of women as rabbis to develop naturally among Orthodox Jews.<ref>{{Cite web|title=IRF Statement {{!}} IRF Reaffirms Its Perspective on Women's Leadership Roles in Orthodoxy|url=https://www.internationalrabbinicfellowship.org/news/irf-reaffirms-its-perspective-on-women%27s-leadership-roles-in-orthodoxy|access-date=April 28, 2021|website=Int'lRabbinicFellow|language=en}}</ref> While Orthodox rabbinic associations are divided over the acceptance and the extent of opposition to women rabbis, the main [[Orthodox Jewish feminism|Orthodox feminist]] group in North America, the [[Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance]] (JOFA), is in support of the change.<ref name=Fishman23>Fishman, S. B. (2023). Women’s Active Partnership in Revitalizing American Judaism. In The Future of Judaism in America (pp. 109-130). Cham: Springer International Publishing.</ref><ref name=shaviv>{{cite web|date=January 30, 2017|first=Miriam|last=Shaviv|website=The Jewish Chronicle|title=Orthodox women rabbis? It's a certainty|url=https://www.thejc.com/judaism/features/orthodox-women-rabbis-it-s-a-certainty-1.431524}}</ref>
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== Hebrew terminology ==
While the English term rabbi is used for women receiving rabbinical ordination, Hebrew grammatical parallels to the title may include ''rabba'' (רבה) – feminine parallel to ''rav'' (רב) – or ''[[rabbanit]]'' (רבנית). The term rabbanit (plural: rabbiniyot) is used by individual Orthodox women in this role.<ref>"Rabbanit Reclaimed", Hurwitz, Sara. JOFA Journal, VI, 1, 2006, 10–11.</ref> For example, [[Sara Hurwitz]], who is considered the first Orthodox woman rabbi, was initially ordained with the title ''maharat'' (a Hebrew acronym that includes the title ''rabbanit'')<ref>The title of ''Maharat'' has been used by those who receive this title at [[Maharat|Yeshivat Maharat]], the first Orthodox seminary for women to confer an equivalent to rabbinic ordination.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yeshivatmaharat.org/|title=Yeshivat Maharat|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150307141515/http://www.yeshivatmaharat.org/|archive-date=March 7, 2015|df=mdy-all}}</ref> but subsequently began using the title ''rabba''.
 
In Israel, a ''meshivat halacha'' ("responder of Jewish law") refers to a woman trained in Jewish law and who provides guidance and legal responses to community members.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Female rabbinic leaders will receive recognition and budgeting from the state|url=https://www.jpost.com/judaism/article-708441|access-date=September 9, 2022|website=The Jerusalem Post {{!}} JPost.com|language=en-US}}</ref>
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