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Mahawaht?: A Female Orthodox Rabbi

Having been nurtured on a diet of equal rights and feminism, I find the challenges of orthodoxy and fundamentalism (not always the same, but often related) to be most difficult when focused on the role and rights of women. So even while I applaud this piece of news, I still remain frustrated that our Jewish orthodox lack full enlightenment…

The Jewish Forward describes the stunning change at a glacial pace, regarding Orthodox Jewish women’s roles:

After years of serious study and service to her community, the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, Hurwitz was given the brand-new title of Maharat — an acronym signifying one who is a public leader, halachic decider, spiritual guide and Torah scholar. In the words of her mentor, Rabbi Avi Weiss, she is “a full member of the clergy, with the distinct voice of a woman.” Were she a man, she’d be a rabbi. Were she a Reform, Reconstructionist or Conservative Jew, she’d be a rabbi. But Hurwitz really wanted to stay in Orthodoxy’s fold, a decision both comfortable and challenging.

It is a partial step in the right direction:

Hurwitz’s not-quite-a-rabbi role omits two important tasks that only men are allowed to perform — leading a public service and serving as a witness. The rationale is that these aren’t necessarily rabbinic roles, since non-rabbis (who are men) may perform them. But anyone who has been to an Orthodox service on a Saturday morning knows where the action is. And it’s not in the proverbial balcony. This refusal to grant full rights to women bothers those outside the Orthodox world, and also within it. Writer Blu Greenberg, who has advocated for years that her fellow Orthodox women be allowed to become rabbis, spoke eloquently at the conferral ceremony about the grand achievement of the day, and the work left undone. “I would be less than candid were I not to acknowledge that even this joyous day has its moments of qualification, that I and many others… had hoped that the new credential this day would have been ‘rabbi’, as Sara has shown herself to be qualified both in her learning and her leadership,” Greenberg said.

Or as New York’s Jewish Week puts it: Mahawhat?: A Rabbi by Any Other Name

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