Feminist Credential Disclaimer: I see no halachic obstacle to women becoming lower-level Orthodox rabbis, based on the Pischei Teshuvah in Choshen Mishpat 7:4 (note 5), and the Tosfos explaining how Devorah the prophetess functioned. However, it is just not done.
There is a confusing article in the Jerusalem Post today, claiming (or not claiming) that the Hartman Institute is starting a program to train women, regardless of denomination, for ordination as Orthodox rabbis. But it's not a normal ordination, in that it doesn't look like they'll have the title "rabbi". And it's not a normal ordination program, being based, not on Talmud and halacha, but on a Masters in Jewish Philosophy and extra teacher training.
R' Aviner, often thought of as a posek for Modern Orthodoxy, isn't happy, but is less happy about Orthodox women studying side-by-side with heterodox women, than he is about the semi-ordination.
So: is this a Great Step Forward for Orthodox Feminism, or is it another non-issue that's trying for a bit of publicity, like the non-denominational (if Orthodox in practice) Kehillath Orach Eliezer hiring a non-Orthodox woman to be a non-rabbi?
There is a confusing article in the Jerusalem Post today, claiming (or not claiming) that the Hartman Institute is starting a program to train women, regardless of denomination, for ordination as Orthodox rabbis. But it's not a normal ordination, in that it doesn't look like they'll have the title "rabbi". And it's not a normal ordination program, being based, not on Talmud and halacha, but on a Masters in Jewish Philosophy and extra teacher training.
R' Aviner, often thought of as a posek for Modern Orthodoxy, isn't happy, but is less happy about Orthodox women studying side-by-side with heterodox women, than he is about the semi-ordination.
So: is this a Great Step Forward for Orthodox Feminism, or is it another non-issue that's trying for a bit of publicity, like the non-denominational (if Orthodox in practice) Kehillath Orach Eliezer hiring a non-Orthodox woman to be a non-rabbi?
4 comments:
well now this gets YCT off the hook.
RK Dina Najman of KOE is Orthodox.
How do you distinguish "lower-level" rabbis?
Ah. Maybe I was confusing the KOE thing with Ner-David's ordination.
Lower level - yoreh yoreh, not yadin yadin.
I think the better punctuation is "yoreh? yoreh. Yadin? Yadin." (Or Lo Tadin, in this case.)
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