January 25, 2016: Are we seeing an evolution in Orthodox Judaism?

By Michael Regenstreif

“Will 2016 be the year of the female Orthodox rabbi?” was the headline of a JTA feature about six stories in the Jewish and wider world to watch in 2016.

The question arose because two Orthodox institutions – Yeshivat Maharat in New York and Yeshivat Har’el in Jerusalem – have been ordaining women as Orthodox clergy, despite the opposition of such groups as the Rabbinical Council of America, the organization representing most modern Orthodox rabbis in North America, and Agudath Israel of America, an umbrella group representing haredi Orthodoxy (not to be confused with Agudath Israel, a Conservative congregation here in Ottawa).

The non-Orthodox Jewish movements in North America began ordaining women in the 1970s and ‘80s, and now the concept of women rabbis is taken for granted in the Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist and Jewish Renewal movements.

But, until very recently, the idea that a woman could be an Orthodox rabbi was still unheard of – and remains a taboo in most of the Orthodox world.

However, the concept of Orthodox women clergy in North America has taken hold through a still-developing, and still very small, movement known as “Open Orthodoxy” centred around several institutions associated with Rabbi Avi Weiss, the New York Orthodox rabbi who founded Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, a rabbinical seminary for men, in 1999, and Yeshivat Maharat, an equivalent seminary for women, a decade later.

According to Rabbi Weiss, Open Orthodoxy is about inclusivity: “encouraging women to become more involved in Jewish ritual and Jewish spiritual leadership”; welcoming those in LGBTQ relationships “as full members in our synagogues”; embracing and giving a forum “to those who struggle with deep religious, theological, and ethical questions”; reaching out “to converts with love and understanding”; decentralizing rabbinic authority to include local rabbis who may be more aware of how Halacha “should apply to their particular communal situations and conditions”; and, being “prepared to engage in dialogue and learn from Jews of other denominations, and, for that matter, people of all faiths.”

The women ordained by Yeshivat Maharat have been free to choose the title they will go by. Most have chosen “Maharat,” an acronym for the Hebrew words manhiga hilkhatit rukhanit Toranit indicating a female leader trained in Halacha, spirituality and Torah. Others have used “Rabba,” a feminized version of Rabbi, or “Morateinu,” Hebrew for our teacher. No matter which title chosen, these women have received the same rigorous level of training and education as their male counterparts in Orthodox rabbinical seminaries.

Lila Kagedan, who grew up in Ottawa and still retains ties to our community, was ordained by Yeshivat Maharat in 2015, and made headlines as the first Yeshivat Maharat graduate to take the title “Rabbi.”

When Rabbi Kagedan was in Ottawa in November, she told me she took the title of “Rabbi” to dispel any confusion about her training and qualifications. But she is well aware of how controversial her role as a rabbi is in the Orthodox world.

Rabbi Kagedan was back in the news this month because an Orthodox synagogue in New Jersey hired her to be part of its spiritual leadership team.

And that brings us back to the question posed by JTA. “Will 2016 be the year of the female Orthodox rabbi?”

According to Rabbi Weiss, Jewish movements are not “announced” or “proclaimed.” They “evolve” over a period of time. The correct question, I think, is whether we are seeing the beginning of an evolution in Orthodox Judaism? It will be fascinating to see whether Open Orthodoxy becomes a major force in the Orthodox world and whether we’ll ever come to take Orthodox women rabbis for granted as we do in the non-Orthodox denominations.

It’s definitely a story to watch.

June 15, 2009: Women are increasingly assuming top communal leadership roles

By Michael Regenstreif

The position of chair of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa – or president of the Vaad Ha’Ir as it was known from 1934 until 2005 – is the pinnacle of lay leadership in the Jewish community of Ottawa. This month, Donna Dolansky became the 34th person in the Federation’s 75-year history to rise to that esteemed position.

A long record of accomplishment as a seemingly tireless volunteer and community leader is something that Donna has in common with her 33 consummate predecessors. Same gender, though, is something she shares with only two: Maureen Molot, who was Vaad president from 1991 to 1993; and Barbara Farber, who served from 1997 to 1999. The position has been a male bastion for 71 of the past 75 years.

The fact that almost all past presidents and chairs have been men is not unusual. Look at most Jewish communities and you’ll see that almost all, if not all, of their leadership positions have been male bastions for most of their histories too. With the exception of organizations that are specifically for women, it is only in recent decades that we’ve seen women realizing the top leadership roles in Federations and major organizations.

It’s also worth noting that, for the first time in this Federation’s history, both the chair, Donna Dolansky, and the vice-chair, Debbie Halton-Weiss, are women.

Like many other Jewish communities, ours has been evolving. Where it was once unheard of for women to attain such top leadership positions, they now do. And, while it is still a rare enough occurrence that we take note when a woman attains a position like Federation chair, it is becoming more commonplace. In another generation or so, we won’t.

Something else worth noting is that, this year, again for the first time, all three recipients of the community’s annual awards are women. At the Federation’s annual general meeting this month, Ingrid Levitz received the Gilbert Greenberg Distinguished Service Award, Estelle Gunner received the Shem Tov Community Volunteer Award, and Jennifer Kardash received the Freiman Family Young Leadership Award.

Although women in the top leadership positions may still be somewhat novel, women – as exemplified by Ingrid, Estelle and Jennifer – have long been at the forefront of community volunteerism. When the Federation celebrated its 75th anniversary last month by honouring 75 of our most accomplished volunteers, 45 of them – a significant majority of 60 per cent – were women.

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The non-Orthodox rabbinate is another area that has been opening up to women in the almost-four decades since the Reform movement ordained its first female rabbi in 1972. Women rabbis are now well accepted in the Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist movements.

There was an interesting item on the JTA wire recently about Sara Hurwitz, an Orthodox woman who had completed the studies needed to become an Orthodox rabbi. She studied under the guidance of Rabbi Avi Weiss, the director of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah in New York, an Orthodox yeshiva for men.

Instead of ‘rabbi,’ though, she was given a new title, maharat – an acronym for Manhigah Hilkhatit Ruhanit Toranit (spiritual, halachic and Torah leader). In other words, she is a rabbi in everything but name.

The JTA article went on to say that Rabbi Weiss and Maharat Hurwitz were founding a new school, Yeshivat Maharat, to train Orthodox women as maharats.

Will the very concept of women as clergy, even if they’re not called ‘rabbis,’ be accepted in Orthodox circles?

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In the April 27 Bulletin, we reported on the 2008 audit of antisemitic incidents in Canada from B’nai Brith Canada (BBC). There were, BBC reported, 1,135 reported incidents of antisemitism in Canada last year, a rise of 8.9 per cent from 2007. The number of antisemitic incidents in Canada, according to BBC, has risen every year but one over the past decade.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in the United States has just released its own audit of antisemitic incidents in the U.S., a country whose population is about 10 times that of ours. The ADL reports there were 1,352 antisemitic incidents in the entire United States in 2008, a decline of seven per cent from 2007. It was the fourth consecutive year in which the ADL has reported a decline in antisemitic incidents in the United States.

Can it really be possible that, proportionately, Canadians are about 10 times more likely to commit antisemitic incidents than Americans?

Or, is it possible that B’nai Brith Canada and the Anti-Defamation League have very different approaches about how or when to define an incident as antisemitic?