Some thoughts that Im sure will piss off my brother

My dad and uncle have been having a conversation about some recent issues in orthodox judaism and invited me to add my two cents. As it was a topic about women, I of course got riled up and have decided to share it with all of you as well:

It started with this article:

Avi Weiss: No more rabbas

By Ami Eden · March 5, 2010

Rabbi Avi Weiss sparked plenty of controversy with his announcement in January that his student Sara Hurwitz would now be known as rabba -- a feminized version of rabbi, replacing her previous title of “maharat.” He declared in a statement that the name change “makes it clear that Sara Hurwitz is a full member of our rabbinic staff” at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, a Modern Orthodox synagogue in the Bronx where he is the spiritual leader.

The Agudath Israel of America declared that by taking such a step and insisting it was tantamount to rabbic ordination, Weiss had placed himself outside the bounds of Orthodoxy. More importantly -- at least from the perspective of Weiss and the students at his Yeshivat Chovevei Torah rabbinical school -- The New York Jewish Week recently reported that the Rabbinical Council of America was considering expelling Weiss.

Our sources say such a step was never under consideration -- though some were pushing for a clear declaration that Weiss had crossed the line.

Either way, the RCA and Weiss have reached an agreement of sorts. Weiss will not be handing out the title to anyone else. And, we're hearing, it's not even clear if Hurwitz will keep the title (or if Weiss will continue to insist that she is essentially a woman rabbi). The buzz is that he will address the issue this Shabbos.

Here's the coordinated statements that they are releasing today (with an intro from two important RCA members):

Please see the statements below, which are the result of quiet efforts over the past few weeks, as approved by the RCA Officers.

They will be shared shortly with the RCA membership, and thereafter with the media.

These statements represent a first major step in bringing this matter to closure in a fashion which avoids a damaging battle in the public arena.

We expect continued discussion to resolve other outstanding issues.


Moshe Kletenik and Shmuel Goldin
________________

Over the course of the last several weeks, at the request and initiative of Rabbi Avi Weiss, the leadership of Rabbinical Council of America and Rabbi Avi Weiss have engaged in discussions concerning the issue of ordaining women as rabbis. We are gratified that during the course of these conversations Rabbi Weiss concluded that neither he nor Yeshivat Maharat would ordain women as rabbis and that Yeshivat Maharat will not confer the title of “Rabba” on graduates of their program.

We are delighted that we have been able to resolve this matter in adherence with Torah principles and in a spirit of cooperation for the sake of peace and unity within our community. We are confident that continued dialogue of this type will enable us to resolve other important issues facing the Jewish community today.

The RCA reaffirms its commitment to women's Torah education and scholarship at the highest levels, and to the assumption of appropriate leadership roles within the Jewish community. We strongly maintain that any innovations that impact the community as a whole should be done only with the broad support of the Orthodox rabbinate and a firm grounding in the eternal mesorah of the Jewish people.

______________

Letter from Rabbi Avi Weiss to RCA President Rabbi Moshe Kletenik

Dear Rabbi Kletenik,

This has been a most challenging time. The change in title from “Maharat” to “Rabba” has precipitated a level of controversy in the Orthodox community that was neither expected nor intended.  In light of the tension caused to our greater community and my commitment to the principle of gadol hashalom, I share the following:

It is not my intention or the intention of Yeshivat Maharat to confer the title of “Rabba” upon its graduates.  Yeshivat Maharat prepares women for positions of religious leadership in the Orthodox community. Each student who completes its course of study in Tanakh, Talmud, Halakha and Jewish Thought, and is deemed fit by her faith, knowledge of our Mesoret, ethical integrity and temperament to assume positions of religious leadership in Orthodox institutions will be confirmed as manhigah hilkhatit, ruhanit, toranit (Maharat).

They will have been prepared to provide varied forms of communal and synagogue leadership in accordance with halakha.  They will also have been trained in pastoral counseling, as well as having the ability to answer questions of halakha to those who seek them out, as has been recognized and well established in both classical and contemporary halakhic sources.

I hope that good will emerge from all of this, and that some of the meaningful conversation and communication that has taken place these past few weeks between myself and yourself as the President of the Rabbinical Council of America, might continue.  I thank you for your candor and your receptiveness.

In the prayer that we all continue to work for the betterment of Am Yisrael--

Biydidut,

Avi

 And I then added in my two cents:

The Maharat program is one of the first to train women to be religious leaders. He came up with the term Maharat because he knew what a ruckus it would cause to say these women are rabbis. But the truth is, they are receiving much of the same training and in my opinion its about freaking time. 

Ten years ago, Nishmat (the seminary I went to in Jerusalem) started a Yoetzet Halacha program. It is a program especially designed to train women in issues of family purity. Rabbanit Heinken (the title is due to the fact that she is married to a Rabbi), saw that there was a need for a female authority on the matter as so many women felt uncomfortable asking male Rabbis halachic questions about their periods, birth control, and the issues of niddah. It is a four year program that trains women to answer halachic questions on the matter, although they still do not say that they can posken without checking with a Rabbi. These women go on to be leaders in communities or help with a hotline that Nishmat has started to answer questions about family purity. It is a step towards making female religious leaders, but as Rabbanit Heinken continuously insists, she is not trying to make female rabbis (check out this [abridged bc jpost archives suck] article for more-http://www.jpost.com/Cooperations/Archives/ ).

The Maharat program was created to expand these same ideas. There is a need for female religious leaders. In a world where orthodox women are becoming more learned and more active in their communities it is not only unfair, but unpractical that there be no leadership roles for them to fill. Classically, the female leader in a community was the Rabbi's wife, but how can that woman be more qualified than one trained for this very purpose? There are many issues that women face in Judaism that they may not feel comfortable discussing with a male Rabbi and issues that men simply may not understand.

I was just debating this with my roommate, and we think one of the big issues here is fear of innovation, or rather the best way to do it. Over the course of history halacha has had to adapt to new ideas and new ways of thinking and I think we are facing one of those moments again. Feminism and human rights have changed the world we live in and I think the orthodox world is having trouble adapting. Judaism is so fractured and so afraid that change is not welcomed but shunned. Orthodoxy refuses to discuss female rabbis because they dont want to get too close to Conservative Judaism. Programs like Nishmat's are creating change but very slowly and making sure to get "permission" for each slow step they make. They have to continuously declare that they are not making rabbis and even then they are not widely accepted. Rabbi Weiss and Sara Hurwitz are ready for bigger changes, and so are alot of women in Orthodoxy. But how far to push the envelope? Rabbi Weiss is dangerously close to being expelled, and once out of the Orthodox fold he will no longer be an innovative Orthodox rabbi, he will be disgraced and dismissed, as will his ideas and his students. We do need to keep a greater peace, and as the RCA states changes this big can only be made with the support of the greater orthodox community. 

The truth is, this is a real and present issue, and it is only through actions like this that the orthodox community begins to look at itself and discuss. Because, really, why not? Why cant we have female religious leaders? Why cant the women in our religion have someone they can turn to for guidance? We have already established time and again that women are as capable as men, can learn just as well. So why cant they lead?