A History of Women's Ordination
as Rabbis
by Avi Hein
Up until the haskalah,
the Jewish enlightenment, the idea of women rabbis would
have seemed farfetched. Women did play an
important role in Jewish life prior to modern
times. But only in the last few decades,
have we seen an increasing number of women
graduating from rabbinical schools. Most
women rabbis today have been ordained from Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionists seminaries.
But a few Orthodox women
have also become rabbis — and an effort
is underway to incorporate more women into
the Orthodox rabbinate.
The word rabbi literally
means teacher. Traditionally, a rabbi was
an observant Jewish male who obeyed mitzvot, knew
Jewish law (halacha)
and tradition, resolved halakhic disputes,
and instructed the community. A rabbi does
not have to serve as shliach tzibur (prayer
leader), and has no more authority to lead
services than anyone else. Prominent Orthodox
feminist thinker Blu Greenberg believes that
female rabbis, like their male counterparts,
don't need to serve in a congregation or
to be prayer leaders. “There are countless
men,” she writes,
“perhaps the overwhelming number, who
are ordained in the Orthodox community, yet
do not perform any functions additional to
those of their lay fellows. So be it for
women.” (Greenberg, Judaism,
31).
The role of women in the
rabbinate has been hotly debated within the
Jewish community. The first female rabbi
ever to be ordained was Regina Jonas of East
Berlin. On December 25, 1935, Rabbi Dr. Max
Dienemann, head of the Liberal Rabbis Association
of Offenbach, ordained Jonas to serve as
a rabbi in Jewish communities in Germany.
In the United States, the Reform movement
ordained its first female rabbi in 1972,
the Reconstructionist movement in 1974, and
the Conservative movement in 1985. The Orthodox
movement has yet to officially accept women
in its rabbinate, although a few Orthodox
women have been ordained in some seminaries.
Each movement, except the
Orthodox, has come to accept the right of
women to become rabbis after long periods
of reflection and debate regarding their
own religious philosophies.
Reform
Movement
From the start, Reform Jewish
ritual allowed men and women to pray together — a
decision based on egalitarian philosophy.
Leaders from within the movement proposed
the idea of women rabbis in the late 1800s,
but it wasn't until 1922 that women in the
rabbinate was discussed formally by the Central
Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR). The
discussion focused on two issues: The position
of women rabbis within traditional Judaism,
and the question of whether the Reform movement
should follow tradition. Reform leaders considered
ordaining women as violating halakha, and
worried that granting women a place in the
Reform rabbinate would “give the larger
group of Jewry that follows traditional Judaism
a good reason to question our authority…”
(Jacob 202). In addition, the Reform rabbinate
felt that admitting women would be detrimental
to family life since it would require women
to choose between the full-time role of the
rabbi and the task of homemaker.CCAR voted
against allowing women becoming rabbis.[1]
The role of women, however,
changed drastically throughout the 20th century,
and women fought to be granted more power
in society, including the right to vote.
The National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW)
and Hadassah were also formed during this
time period, paving the way for women to
participate in traditionally male institutions,
such as the rabbinate. (Nadell 30-35, 151-152).
Conservative
Movement
The Conservative movement,
on the other hand —
founded on the theory that halakha is
binding yet evolving —
made more radical changes in halakha.. But
the decision giving women access to the rabbinate
also caused a riff among leaders, resulting
in many Talmudic scholars from the JTC leaving
the organization to start their own institution.
In 1973, JTS's halakhic decision-making body,
the Committee on Jewish Laws and Standards
(CJLS), passed a law allowing women to count
in minyanim.
But one year later, the committee voted against
women rabbis and cantors. The question as
to whether women should be able to become
rabbis, the Committee decided, warranted
further study. In December 1977, the Rabbinical
Assembly and the Jewish Theological Seminary's
jointly created commission, the Commission
for the Study of the Ordination of Women
as Rabbis, convened.
Within a year, eleven members
agreed that “there is no direct halakhic
objection to the acts of training and ordaining
a woman to be a rabbi, preacher, and teacher.” The
findings were presented to the Rabbinical
Assembly. But the issue was shelved, and
controversy continued. In the spring of 1983,
JTS Chancellor Gershon Cohen announced that
he would raise the issue again before the
Seminary faculty. That October, the Seminary
faculty voted to admit women to the Rabbinical
School. [2] (Nadell
172-186, 191-192). Soon after, JTS’s
new chancellor, Dr.
Ismar Schorsch, admitted women to Cantorial
School on the same grounds.
Reconstructionist
Movement
Founded by Mordecai
Kaplan, an eminent professor at the
JTS, the Reconstructionist
Movement ordained women from the start.
In 1968, women were accepted into the the
Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, under
the leadership of Ira Eisenstein, (Nadell
187-188). Reconstructionist philosophy,
like Reform beliefs, is founded on the
basis that men and women have equal rights,
regardless of halakha. The first
ordained female Reconstructionist female
rabbi, Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, gained a
pulpit in 1977at Indianapolis’s Beth
El Zadok, a synagogue which was affiliated
with both the Reconstructionist and Conservative
movements. She thus became the first female
rabbi in a Conservative-affiliated congregation.
Orthodox
Women
Orthodox women began pursuing
a role in the rabbinate several decades later,
but their enthusiasm has been continuously
squelched by prominent Jewish leaders. Some
women, however, have broken through the barriers
to become rabbis. At least two women have
openly declared that they have received Orthodox smicha and
several Orthodox women are currently studying
in Israel to receive smicha under
an Orthodox rabbi. Blu Greenberg has advocated
for women to become rabbis since the mid
1980s. “Orthodox women,” she
wrote, “should be ordained because
it would constitute a recognition of their
intellectual accomplishments and spiritual
attainments; because it would encourage great Torah study;
because it offers wider female models of
religious life; because women's input into
p'sak (interpretation of Jewish text,) absent
for 2,000 years, is sorely needed; because
it will speed the process of reevaluating
traditional definitions that support hierarchy;
because some Jews might find it easier to
bring halakhic questions concerning family
and sexuality to a woman rabbi. And because
of the justice of it all (Greenberg, Moment
Magazine, 52, 74).”
Rabbi Yosef Kanefsky, rabbi
of Los Angeles Congregation B’nai David-Judea,
agreed with Greenburg. He said, “The
stupidest thing the Orthodox community does
now is not having women rabbis. It wastes
intellectual and spiritual talent” (JTA).
But orthodox women have
not given up. In recent years, women’s yeshivot and
learning opportunities have expanded. From
Drisha in New York City to Midrashat Lindenbaum
(Brovenders) in Israel,
women’s learning opportunities have
led to a new class of learned Orthodox women.
Mimi Feigelson, a student of Rabbi
Shlomo Carrlebach, was ordained by a
panel of three rabbis after her teacher's
death. Feigelson, however, doesn't use the
title “rabbi”
out of respect for the current social structure
of orthodoxy. [3] Eveline Goodman-Thau
was ordained in October 2000 in Jerusalem by
Rabbi Jonathan Chipman. [4]
But the orthodox religious
establishment has harshly condemned the actions
of these women and others with similar aspirations.
In 1993, Haviva Krasner-Davidson [5] applied to Yeshiva
University’s rabbinical school, the
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary.
She never received a response. Instead, it
has been reported to her that her application
was ridiculed at a Purim shpiel
(Nadell 218, Ner-David 196-198). She is now
studying in Israel under Rabbi Aryeh Strikovsky.
Why are women excluded from
these seminaries? Rabbi Steven Dworken, executive
vice president of the Rabbinical Council
of America, has said that women's entry into
the rabbinate “smacks of innovations
of Reform and Conservative Judaism, which
would not be acceptable.” Zevulum Charlop,
dean of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological
Seminary of Yeshiva University argues that
women can not receive smicha because
it originated with Moses and was passed down
only to men (Goodstein). “
Criteria for becoming a
rabbi today, however, differs dramatically
from standards in place during the days of Moses (Ner-David
195). Blu Greenberg wrote that: ”A
close look at the convention of ordination
reveals that it is not a conferral of holy
status nor a magical laying on of hands to
transit authority. Nor does the process uniquely
empower a rabbi to perform special sacramental
functions that a knowledgeable layperson
cannot. Ordination is the confirmation of
an individual's mastery of texts (largely
from the Talmud and
codes); familiarity with precedents; and
ability to reason analogically and apply
precedents to contemporary questions. Conferring
the title
“rabbi” is a guarantee to the
community that this person has been judged
fit by a collective of rabbis or by a single
great scholar to give guidance on matters
of issur v'heter, the forbidden and
the permitted, primarily as it concerns the
laws of kashrut, Shabbat and
family purity. The smicha process
assumes but does not even test for personal
piety, good character or a spiritual bent.
the formal criteria are almost wholly intellectual,
but does not even test for personal piety,
good character or a spiritual bent. The formal
criteria are almost wholly intellectual.“
But women shouldn't rush
into training to become rabbis.
“The first steps might be a teacher,
a Rosh yeshiva, or a rabbi of a women’s tefilah group,
or a position in the secular organizational
structure that calls for the title of rabbi,” Greenberg
states. “Another milestone would be
for a woman to write pirkei halakhah and teshuvot” (Greenberg,
Judaism, 32). Haviva Ner-David, an Orthodox
woman who is studying for Orthodox smicha,
says, “there should be a woman studying
for Orthodox smicha. The time is ripe.
I have the motivation, the desire, and a
rabbi who is willing to take this step – there
is no reason not to move forward” (Ner-David
199). Orthodox smicha for women is
going to require women to push for it, however
it is halakhic. Blu Greenberg says “some
highly respected Yeshiva University-ordained,
modern Orthodox rabbis see no halakhic barriers
to women’s ordinations” (Greenberg, Moment
Magazine, 74). As Ner-David says, “If
we want to see major changes for women’s
status in the Orthodox world, it will be
up to women to agitate for and make change” (Ner-David
209).
Sources:
[1] For a fuller historical discussion, see Pamela Nadell Women Who Would Be Rabbis.
[2] Most of the faculty papers were published by the joint JTS/RA committee. See The Ordination of Women as Rabbis: Studies and Responsa.
[3] Personal conversation with Mimi Feigelson, July 2000 at Lishma program, Camp Ramah in California.
[4] Rabbi Chipman was ordained by Rabbi Jehudah Gershuni and is considered to be a respected rabbi in Israel.
[5] Now Haviva Ner-David
Cohen, Debra Nussenbaum, “Orthodox
feminists-male and female-talk about successes
and frustrations.” New York Jewish
Week 18 February 2004. (Reprinted in JTA)
Dayan, Aryeh. "A forgotten
myth." Haaretz. 2008.
Goodstein, Lauren. “Ordained
as Rabbis, Women tell Secret.” New
York Times 21 Dec. 2000, late ed.: 29A.
Greenberg, Blu. “Will
There Be Orthodox Women Rabbis?” Judaism 33.1
(Winter 1984): 23-33.
----- “Is Now the
Time for Orthodox Women Rabbis?” Moment Dec.
1992: 50-53, 74.
Greenberg, Simon (ed.). The
Ordination of Women as Rabbis: Studies
and Response. New York: The
Jewish Theological Seminary of America,
1988.
Grossman, Susan and Riva
Haut (ed.). Daughters of the King: Women
and the Synagogue. Philadelphia: The
Jewish Publication Society, 1992.
Helper, Micah D. and China
Safari (ed.). Jewish Legal Writings by
Women. Jerusalem: Uri Publications, 1998.
Jacob, Walter and Moshe
Zemer (ed.) Gender Issues in Jewish Law:
Essays and Responsa. New York: Berghahn
Books, 2001.
Klein, Isaac. A Guide
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Publishing House, 1992.
Nadell, Pamela. Women
Who Would Be Rabbis: A History of Women’s
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Press, 1998.
Ner-David, Haviva. Life
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