I know of many David Hartmans. One lives here in Chicago and is a successful businessman. Another one is an actor and the original host of ABC's Good Morning America. Yet another is a Mechanech in Israel who teaches in a number of women’s seminaries and is the author of a commentary on the Gur Aryeh. And then there is his more famous uncle, Rabbi David Hartman of the Shalom Hartman institute.
Rabbi Hartman received his ordination from Yeshiva University. And he claims Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik as his mentor. But I seriously question whether the institution he has built is anywhere near reflecting the legacy of the Rav. There are two issues here. One is problematic but the other seems to be well beyond the pale of Orthodoxy.
In the first instance, Rabbi Hartman has instituted a program whereby women can become ordained Orthodox rabbis. This is one of the greatest departures from traditional Orthodoxy by an Orthodox rabbi in my lifetime. He has devised a four year study program that will lead to such ordinations.
This innovation cannot be so easily dismissed. From a Halachic standpoint, it is not so clear to me exactly what the Issur would be. But what is very clear is the extent of the opposition to it. It ranges across the Orthodox spectrum. Even the left wing Yeshivat Chovevei Torah doesn’t ordain women.
During my years as student of Rabbi Aaron Soloveichik, the feminist movement was in its fledgling state. It was then called the Women’s Liberation Movement. Many Orthodox rabbinic leaders saw this as the single biggest challenge facing Orthodoxy.
Back in those early feminist days, Rabbi Chaim Keller had published an article strongly condemning this movement as one that might lead to ordaining women. I had written a counter argument that was published at the time stating that I saw no real problem with it halachicly. Why not give any human being the title they earned by successfully completing the the requirements?
I then saw the only real problems as practical. The primary role of a rabbi was as a leader of a Shul. This is a position that was at best impractical because of the Halacha requiring separate seating for men and women and a Mechitza... a partition between them.
But, I argued that those are not the only roles that rabbis filled. The title rabbi was derived from the Hebrew word, Rebbe… or teacher. Why not, I argued give a female teacher who successfully completed the coursework the title she earned? I have never heard any Halachic arguments to counter this.
It should also be remembered that today’s Semicha does not have the same validity it did in ancient times. Today it is nothing more than a Heter Hora'ah… it grants an individual the right to decide matters of Halacha. What is it about a woman that she should be denied that right if she learns exactly the same material as her male counterpart?
That was pretty much my argument then. But with time I have come to better understand the objections to it.
One of the main arguments against it is one that I’ve used here many times: The source of the desire to become a Rabbi is social feminism... the idea of equality of the sexes in all endeavors. One must consider motive when innovating radical changes in tradition. If the motivation is sourced in an ideology that is foreign to Torah, there is a realistic danger that Halachic lines will be inevitably be crossed.
I believe that is why for example that Yoatzot are not granted Semicha. These are women who study Halacha in a serious learning program. They learn pretty much the same thing their male counterparts in Yeshivos learn. But they do not Paskin …decide difficult questions of Halacha. All such questions are referred to male Rabbis. Yet even this program is criticized by the right as being to close to giving women the right to Paskin.
But that isn’t the worst of it, in my view. Rabbi Hartman has invited men and women of all denominations to participate in this program and after completing it, they will receive an ordination from the streams to which they belong.
How in heaven’s name can a Rabbi who calls himself Orthodox give out rabbinical ordinations to students who identify with heretical streams of Judaism? How can a man do this and still claim that Rabbi Soloveitchik is his mentor?!
Rabbi Soloveitchik was very strong and very clear in his opposition to co-operating with heterodox streams in Judaism.
Rabbi Shlomo Aviner sums up my views on this quite nicely:
Shlomo Aviner, a leading modern Orthodox rabbi and head of the Ateret Yerushalayim Yeshiva, said in response to the Hartman Institute's announcement that he opposed giving women the title "rabbi."
"I think it is degrading to tell a woman that she won't be respected and appreciated unless she adopts a man's title," Aviner said. "Throughout the generations there were always scholarly women who were highly respected. Jewish law dictates that a man must stand before a learned woman just as he must stand out of respect for a learned man."
Aviner said he was more concerned with the idea that Orthodox Jews would study together with their Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist brothers and sisters.
"Learning Torah is like getting married," he said. "It is not just an intellectual exercise, it is a Jew's life. To learn with a totally secular Jew is permitted, but learning with Reform and Conservative Jews is problematic because they do not believe as I do, they do not have a fear of God."
I agree with Rabbi Aviner but with one minor caveat. I do not think that being a member of a non Orthodox movement means that one automatically does not have a fear of God. I think that in most cases they just misunderstand what that entails. But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a problem.
To be responsible for ordaining rabbis of heterodox movements is an unbelievable breach. This is more than just giving heterodox heresies legitimacy. It is actively perpetuating them. One must seriously question this man’s claim to Orthodoxy.
It is one thing to invite all Jews of any denomination to come and study the Torah. That is laudable. But to ordain heretical rabbis is counter to the very basics of our faith and ought to be condemned in the strongest possible terms.
