Dear Rabbi Zahavy - Your Talmudic Advice Column March 2019
Arguing about Orthodox Women Rabbis and Finding your Past Lives
Dear Rabbi Zahavy,
I have been bothered deeply to read and hear about a conflict among Teaneck Orthodox rabbis over the hiring of a woman in a rabbinical capacity at a local synagogue.
I think our rabbis ought to set better examples in their behavior and be more progressive in their views about women.
Tired of tiffs in Teaneck
Dear Tired,
I’m sure you realize, first of all, that contention over female clergy is an issue only in the Orthodox world. The Conservative movement has counted women in the minyan for decades and ordained women starting in 1985. Reform Judaism also takes an egalitarian approach to the role of women in their communities. Its first woman rabbi was ordained in 1972.
Sorry, I fear there is not much I can suggest to you to do to help resolve this Orthodox rift. And I say this not based on an assessment of the contemporary persons and institutions involved in the current spat.
