Most of a rabbi’s roles can be halachically and effectively assumed by women, and have been for many years. A rabbi must be learned in Jewish texts and the practical laws pertaining to daily Jewish life — and Orthodox women’s seminaries teach thousands of young Jewish women those laws, and do a top-notch job of…
We just got into our car and drove. Going to Las Vegas after the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history felt like the right thing to do. As Americans and as Jews, we wanted to be a source of support and love in the face of terror. We wanted to stand with the victims…
Seven months after one of Orthodox Judaism’s oldest and biggest institutions barred women clergy from its synagogues, the decision is threatening to create yet another split in a community already riven by the issue of female rabbis. Founded more than 100 years ago, the Orthodox Union is a coalition of synagogues and other organizations, most…
I don’t know that I will ever get used to the fact that I make some people uncomfortable. Partially because there is very little that is imposing about me. I am not particularly tall, nor do I appear to be particularly strong. Yet, as an Orthodox Jewish woman who has been ordained as clergy, I…
Meet Michal Kohane, the latest Maharat-in-training to be offered a pulpit in the Modern Orthodox Prospect Heights Shul in the heart of brownstone Brooklyn. Kohane was recently announced as the new “Rosh Kehila,” head of the community, by the community rabbi Ysoscher Katz. Born and raised in Israel, Kohane has had a leading role in…
I once spoke to a group of elderly Jews about the advances in women’s Torah study. One woman in the audience eagerly raised her hand. She said that she was born in Krakow, and was the downstairs neighbor of Sarah Shenirer, the founder of the Bais Yaakov schools. “Believe me,” she said, “the rabbis were…
The Orthodox Union has adopted a new policy barring women from serving as clergy at its 400 member congregations across the United States. At least four synagogues that are members of the Orthodox Union currently employ women in clergy roles. A new rabbinic ruling by seven leading Modern Orthodox rabbis — adopted as official OU…
Bitya Rozen-Goldberg had no idea she wanted to be a rabbi when she immigrated to Israel from France 11 years ago. In the years since settling in Jerusalem, the 33-year-old tour guide studied Talmud in numerous female settings. But as “female rabbi” has long been an oxymoron in the Orthodox world, she never thought she…
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