Women as Rabbis the Ordination

Women as Rabbis

The ordination of women as rabbis in Judaism engenders as much discussion as the ordination of women as priests in the Catholic Church and some opposition, usually based on history as much as on biblical prescription. Feminists would have to see Judaism as more advanced, however, for the ordination of women is not unheard of in spite of some resistance from certain groups, and women rabbis can be found in Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist groups, with a few even found among Orthodox populations. This trend has been largely a product of the Jewish enlightenment, with the greatest change over the last few decades.

A rabbi is literally a teacher, and under the tradition, a rabbi is an observant Jewish male who obeys mitzvot, knows Jewish law (halacha), can resolve halakhic disputes, and instructs the community. The role of women was long subject of debate, and the first woman was ordained as a rabbi only in 1972 in a Reform group. The role of women in Judaism as a whole has changed for many sects, and a consideration of the history of women in the Temple shows what sorts of shifts had to be made before they could be ordained.

Separation

Women have long been separated from men in public places, such as in Temple. Sources in the Bible refer to women as singers, dancers, and mourners. Certainly, women were present at communal events, and sources also show that women were participants at Temple public celebrations. The issue of the mehitzah, or barrier, is key and focuses not on the presence of women in the synagogue but on their place in the synagogue. Today, a variety of seating arrangements exist, ranging from mixed pews to balconies and separate rooms. Many Jews assume that the separate seating model follows ancient patterns, but in fact, this is uncertain. The absence of a mehitzah in a synagogue does not in itself mean that there is mixed seating, since men and women could sit separately without the barrier. Some historians believe that women did not attend synagogue in ancient times, though this is also unclear. The practice of separation did begin at some point:

Whether its origin was in biblical, late antique, or medieval times, the mehitzah has become a symbol of denominational allegiances and policies in the twentieth century.

The uncertainty over the archaeological and historical records are compounded by the equal ambiguities of the halakhic issues. Jewish law, the halakah, is based on more than 600 commandments, the mitzvahs, laid down by God and given to Moses in the Torah. This body of law is intended to control every aspect of existence for the pious Jew, and he is expected to obey every mitzvah. Yet, in the halakhic record, questions remain about the requirement that the sexes be separated for prayer as well as for public occasions. The wording of the text in the Talmud is unclear, and nowhere do the codes explicitly require a mehitzah. There are some references to the ezrat nashim, or Women's Court in the Second Temple, which according to rabbinic tradition was where women were separated, with the reason for this being the presence of kalut rosh, or light headedness, which the Sages understood as frivolous or lewd behavior. Preventing such behavior was one of the key factors in later halakhic pronouncements and developments. Maimonides in his compilation of laws dealing with the temple refers to a women's section, and other medieval texts refer to the use of a partition for public occasion. Still, no requirement for the use of a partition is found until more recent times:

It was not until the modern period, when the Reform Movement first removed the mehitzah and later instituted family pews, that responsa explicitly requiring a mehitzah for prayer services were written. Orthodox decisors today all agree that one can only pray in a synagogue with separate seating and a mehitzah. No matter what the historical record, the Temple pattern of that one day has thus been extended to the synagogue permanently.

Many who consider the role of the mehitzah in Jewish life today try to relate it to a perception of ill-treatment of women in ancient times, and yet this is a misreading both of the role of the mehitzah and of history. Dr. Joseph Herman Hertz notes one work on religion and ethics that claims that the relation of wife to husband in biblical times was that of a slave to her master, and Hertz says this is completely false and can be so demonstrated with hundreds of scriptural references to the contrary. In Jewish law, the property rights of women were clearly defined in the Talmudic period, and the legal status of the woman under Jewish law can be compared advantageously to that of contemporary civilizations. Women enjoyed respect and reverence in Judaism and still do. The earliest allusion to women in public worship is found in Exodus 38:8, which refers to the women who assembled at the door of the "tent of meeting" of whose mirrors the lavers of brass were made. The women are described as full of piety, holiness, and humbleness. Also to be found are references to the exclusion of women from the synagogue during certain seasons, though it is also noted that nearly all the authorities protested against it, many declaring that the practice was quite un-Jewish. Hertz believes that the synagogue took for its model the arrangement in the Temple and thus confined women to a place of their own, but he has no doubt that women were an important part of worship in the synagogue.

Nahida Remy notes that modern research has shown that much old Jewish thought and custom contributed to the amelioration of family life and to the social standing of women. The Bible from the beginning shows that man and woman were alike created in the image of God:

Among nearly all the ancient nations woman was considered a dependent, enslaved creature, or an object of luxury and amusement. Let us turn to the Bible and the Talmud to find how woman was treated among the Jews... The special care for woman and the reverential regard for her are remarkable, and fall nothing short of homage.

Remy finds that there was a vast difference between the independence given women in Jewish life and the condition of slavery to which girls and women of other nations were subjected during their entire lives.

The Reform Movement

Jew is one who accepts the faith of Judaism, and yet the issue of what is a Jew has been considered a difficult one to determine with any finality. The above is the religious definition, but there is also a cultural definition in that a Jew is one who considers himself a Jew or is so regarded by the community. Judaism in any case holds that mankind can most genuinely worship God by imitating those qualities considered godly, such as mercy, justice, and tolerance. There are three principal tenets in the Jewish prayer book: 1) the love of learning -- Jews long ago had a system of compulsory education, and education is a responsibility of the Jewish community; 2) the worship of God -- Jews are taught that God is to be worshiped out of love and not out of fear; and 3) good deeds -- Good deeds are those that come from the heart, and no one is exempt from obligations to his fellow human beings. Jews believe in the immortality of the soul, but the nature of this immortality is known only to God. They do not any longer accept the literal idea of heaven and hell, however, thought here was a time when that was a part of Jewish theology.

Reform Jews believe that Jewish tradition has always been in a state of flux and that Judaism itself is an evolving entity. They began in nineteenth-century Europe as Jews who had just been freed from the ghettos and tried to make premodern Judaism responsive to the changing conditions of their newly found civil status. Reform Jews emphasize the need to interpret Judaic tradition from the perspective of individual conscience and informed choice. Jews must study Jewish tradition, but they also need to adapt it to modern life.

Jews since that time have been divided into three main religious sectors, all of which are found in the United States today. These three are Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform. Orthodox Jews accept the revelation of the Torah, both written and oral, by God to Moses, and they hold to the obligation of Jews to observe the commandments contained in the Torah as well as the enactments of the rabbinical courts of their own tradition. The majority of the Jews around the world are Orthodox, although the degree of observance may vary.

Conservative Jews are those whose congregations belong to an organization called the United Synagogue, and the most immediate difference with the orthodox group is that in the synagogue, men and women sit together and the reader faces the congregation rather than facing the Ark and Jerusalem. Conservative Jews use a different prayer book and have somewhat shorter services. Some of the prayers are in English, while in the Orthodox synagogue the entire service is in Hebrew.

Reform Jews take a radical approach and declare that revelation is not central to belief and that even the commandments in the Torah can be discarded if they conflict with the demands of modern living. Reformed Jews agree that God may have revealed Himself to Moses, but they deny that God revealed the Torah as an eternal covenant with His people.

In America, the different Jewish sects have taken a different approach to maintaining their specific community and have shaped their different synagogues to reflect differences in belief. Reform and Conservative synagogues have no separate section for men and women, who sit together during the services. In Orthodox practice, separation of the sexes is an absolute law. The reason given for this is that women are a distracting influence and that it is not possible to concentrate on the prayers if the sexes are mixed.

Women and Judaism

Judith Plaskow sets out to describe a feminist Judaism. She first notes the contradictions that exist between a feminist conception of Judaism and the actuality, and she then considers various aspects of Jewish life, noting first how women fit into them and then how she believes women should fit into them. Plaskow is truly calling for change and not merely for a cosmetic alteration in Judaism. She says that there is a contradiction in Judaism which signals that Judaism at present is based on a broad patriarchal worldview:

Thus Jewish feminists might agree that it is a matter of simple justice for Jewish women to have full access to the riches of Jewish life. But when a woman stands in the pulpit and reads from the Torah that her daughters can be sold as slaves... she participates in a profound contradiction between the message of her presence and the content of what she learns and teaches. It is this contradiction feminists must address, not simply "adding" women to a tradition that remains basically unaltered, but transforming Judaism into a religion that women as well as men have a role in shaping.

Plaskow makes the clear implication that woman's experience has been omitted from Judaism, or at least distorted:

Women have lived Jewish history and carried its burdens, but women's perceptions and questions have not given form to scripture, shaped the direction of Jewish law, or found expression in liturgy. (Plaskow 1).

The central Jewish categories are Torah, Israel, and God, and all have been construed from the male perspective:

As women appear in male texts, they are not the subjects and molders of their own experiences but the objects of male purposes, designs, and desires.

This reality begins with the conception of God as male. This is a key conception in patriarchal theology, and while it does not itself give rise to patriarchal structures, it does support patriarchy as a religious and legal system:

When Torah is thought of as divinely revealed in its present form, the subordination of women is granted the seal of divine approval. When God is conceived of as male, as a king ruling over his universe, male rule in society seems appropriate and right.

The Role of Women

The above discussion indicates many of the reasons why women have held a secondary position in the Synagogue, though many see this as a protection for women and not at all a downgrading of women:

Given the historically universal stratification of the sexes, plus the model of the Jewish woman as enabler and the exclusive male (rabbinic) option of interpreting the law, there could have been widespread abuse of the powerless. But this did not happen. In fact, the reverse is true; throughout rabbinic history, one observes a remarkably benign and caring attitude toward women.

Leila Leah Bronner agrees and notes how the historical trend favored women in certain roles even if denying them full participation:

There is no question that the society in which the sages lived was male dominated. Still, the aggadic discourse of the rabbis gave women greater rights and protections within their limited domestic realm. Moreover, biblical models were treated with respect and comparative open-mindedness by the sages relative to their time.

In the modern era, liberal Jews started to use electricity on Shabbas, eat non-kosher food outside the home, and ordain women as rabbis.

As Ruth Adler notes, the process of inclusion for women has been ongoing for some time. For two centuries, men and women claiming liberal Judaism have been learning what it means to include women in prayer. She notes that at the Hamburg Temple in 1818, "inclusion meant allowing women's voices to be heard in the choir." At a synagogue in 1851, it meant relocating women from the women's gallery to "the family pew" beside their male relatives. "For the Reform, Reconstructionist, and Conservative Judaisms of the 1970s and 1980s, it meant beginning to ordain women as rabbis."

As one analysis notes, the arguments against the ordination of women as rabbis are largely historical and are meant to prevent change, using the past and tradition against innovation:

Arguments against the ordination of women as rabbis, for example, are rooted not so much in any real legal impediment to women's ordination as in the fact that historically rabbis have been men. The notion of a woman as rabbi feels 'un-Jewish' to many Jews because it is perceived as discontinuous with a Jewish past that makes certain claims upon its present bearers. On question after question, the weight of tradition is thrown at women as an argument for keeping things the way they are.

Indeed, one of the major changes in both reform and conservative Judaism centered on the role of women in the group. Conservative synagogues have had mixed seating since the beginning of the movement, and women were eventually allowed to read from the Torah and to be counted among the number in the congregation for public worship. Beginning in the 1980s, after a long and divisive debate, women were accepted as rabbis and were sent for rabbinical training in the Seminary. Such changes are not without critics, of course:

The Conservative branch of Judaism recently began ordaining women as cantors. The chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary, Ismar Schorsch, declared that the decision was "in full accord with Halakhah," and referred to it as "the culmination of a century-long evolution of the status of women under the law." Rabbi Schorsch's opinion is, however, representative of the views of the liberal faction within the Conservative movement. The Union for Traditional Conservative Judaism, formed specifically to protest the ordination of women as rabbis, expressed forceful opposition also to this move.

In Plaskow's analysis, the author looks to the Torah as both a symbol of the loss for women in Judaism and as a way of recovering what has been lost, and this derives from the role of the Torah in the covenant at Sinai. She notes the idea that the Torah preexisted the creation of the world and that it was the first of God's work, serving as the architectural plan used by God in creating the universe. The Torah that exists in written form is only a limited interpretation of what lies hidden, and as such it is a document that the initiate must penetrate more and more deeply to gain momentary glimpses of that hidden portion: