The Future of Women as Rabbis in Orthodoxy

Rabba Rachel Khol Finegold (JWA)

In some ways I feel sorry for Rabba Rachel Kohl Finegold. Not that she wants or needs my sympathy. She might even object to it as paternalistic or condescending. It isn’t. I believe she is a victim of the cultural milieu of our time. That being said,  I am absolutely convinced that her motives are everything she says they are. She chose to serve our people in the capacity of a clergyman. Very likely believing that this was a calling.

I call her ‘Rabba’ because she decided to change it from her former title Maharat. She indicated that the term was quite a mouthful. Which few people understood. In choosing Rabba, she makes it a lot clearer what it is she is doing. Frankly if I were her, I would just go all the way. Why stop at Rabba? Why not Rabbi? 

Rabba was chosen by Rabbi Avi Weiss when he ordained Rabba Sara Hurwitz, the first Orthodox woman to do so. He said it was simply the female form of the word rabbi. But rabbi is really an English word and no longer has any gender connotation. It is almost sexist to dance around that title.

This of course does not mean I agree with any of it. I do not. Just recognizing what is really going on here.

So why do I feel sorry for her? I truly believe that this new phenomenon will eventually go the way of the Traditional movement. Which has a lot on common with the version of Orthodoxy of which Rabba Feingold is a part. A version that has embraces the idea of ordaining women as consistent with Halacha. 

What is interesting is that Rabba Feingold would never take a pulpit that does not have a Mechitza separating men from women. As she notes she would never do anything that is against  Halacha. 

That was exactly the same argument used by the Conservative movement when they took out the Mechitza in favor of family seating. The fact is that the Shulchan Aruch does not mention the requirement to separate the sexes. The basis of that is derived of the fact that men and women were eventually separated in the Beis HaMikdash. It became a tradition thousands of years ago that went unbroken and unchallenged.

Until the early 20^th century when the Conservative movement was founded. Their motives were pure, too. They saw the American Jew assimilating quickly in the melting pot environment of the time. Conservative leaders felt that if they didn’t ‘Americanize’ their pews, no one would attend. They saw it as a sort of Eis La’assos that in any case did not violate the letter of Jewish law - the Shulchan Aruch.

Now a century later we see where that has led. A movement that with the best of intentions attempting to accommodate the spirit of the times in order to conserve Judaism is now a movement in rapid decline. 

The Traditional movement who had the same intention when they removed the Mechitza was led by fully Orthodox Rabbis. But their demise was even quicker that the Conservative Movement.

One would have never predicted that back in the 60s. Traditional Shuls were mushrooming all over Chicago. Rabbis that took those pulpits were just as sincere in their motives as Rabba Finegold. 

Aside from removing the Mechitzos and using microphones that were turned on before Shabbos - they stayed true to Halacha in their personal lives and  in their synagogues. And they had the backing of a major Talmid Chacham, Rav Chaim Dovid Regensburg, who not only permitted them to take those Shuls, he actually encouraged it as a means of keeping them in the Orthodox fold while trying to influence their members to send their children to religious schools. At which they were pretty successful.  Nevertheless, those Shuls are for the most part gone – replaced by an explosion of fully Orthodox Shuls over the last decade or so.

The bottom line is that even if one concedes that there is nothing Halachicly wrong with a female rabbi (which is a questionable premise in any case) the fact that is that it as been widely rejected by all rabbinic authorities as a serious and unacceptable break from tradition. 

That there are a few outlier Shuls that are willing to accommodate a membership that is so  heavily influenced by the common culture does not mean it has any better future today than the Traditional Movement had in its day. Which is why it is so sad that an obviously intelligent and sincere woman has decided to dedicate her life to a lost cause. This is not the wave of the Orthodox future.

This is not to say that women should not be Jewishly educated comparable to their male counterparts. I have absolutely no problem with women studying anything they wish. Just as I have no problem with men studying anything they wish. 

The problem is not even in using that knowledge in ways that benefit the Jewish community. i am all for that. The problem is breaking with a centuries old tradition  by choosing to become a female clergyman equal to a male clergyman.  What this sincere woman is doing is in essence - what the sincere Traditional rabbis had done. And even what the early Conservative rabbis had done - many of whom were personally observant even by Orthodox standards.

I remain unconvinced that the general cultural influences of our time are not at least partly responsible for any sincere Orthodox woman choosing the rabbinate as a profession. The times we live in places the highest value on egalitarianism and personal fulfillment. True - serving God and the Jewish people is how they see themselves. But every time I read an article like this it’s hard not to see a cultural component by contrasting it to the overwhelming majority of Orthodox Jewish women who would never challenge the wisdom of our traditions recognized by virtually all recognized Poskim to be inviolate.

I’ve said before. More times that I can count. This has absolutely nothing to do with denying women opportunity. I fully support treating all people equally. The only thing that should matter is ability. Not race, religion or gender (Allowing for certain exceptions due to modesty concerns – which is beyond the scope of this post.) 

However, when it comes to serving God the way we believe He intends us to, we ought not to be seeking other ways to do it – even when we feel a calling. That is not the way Judaism works. Jewish history is filled with failed movements that were at the time thought to be the best way forward for Judaism. That is where I believe this current trend is headed.