Female Rabbis?

Question

My college has a diverse campus ministry, though most of the ministers dont so anything. I checked them out and they have a female rabbi. I thought jews and catholics shared that and rabbis couldnt be females. I met her once and she isn't observant at all (she was at the ministry meeting and it was a lunch and she was eatting beef with cheese)

How does that work exactly? I get the being a reformist part (which makes me giggle) but are they THAT reformist now?

Answer 1

What I say is probably going to sound strange to some of the Orthodox Jews out there. Realiry is that there are female Orthodox Rabbis- one yeshivah in Israel gives smicha in Hilchos Niddah. This provides a route for many women to get teshuvot on issues of niddah since many are too shy to discuss such issues with a male Rabbi and thus may extend their period of niddah unnecessarily. However- this smichah is conditional and the women are NOT allowed to be community Rabbis. Within Orthodox any community Rabbi must be male since due to the nature of the job it is not possible for a women due to issues of yichud and snius.

In Reform, female Rabbis are not uncommon at all, and Conservative has a growing number of female Rabbis. Any female Rabbi on a campus will be from either Reform or Conservatve- and this is easily seen in your example since the "Rabbi" doesn't even observe the laws of kashrus!

An historical note on female Rabbis: SImply put- they weren't. A Rabbi in the times of the prophets/temple could only be appointed by the Nasi (Prince and head of) the Anshei Knesset Hagadol (The main court of Seventy Judges also called the Sanhedrin)- and then only to people who had full knowledge of Torah, Sifri, Sifrei, Mishnah, Halachahl, Agadah and Sod and who were acknowledged as masters of these subjects with a substantial number of students. Th e problem comes in that any Rabbi was expected to pass on all their knowledge to at least two or three of his students- and when it comes to Sod (nowadays called Kaballah), it is only taught in one on one sessions- something a man and woman cannot do in a private setting- essential when studying Sod. So, either the woman would be lacking knowledge of Sod, of questionable moral character or unable to teach sod- in any case lacking the requirements to be a Rabbi. (the one notable exception is Beruriah, a sage quoted in the Talmud who was married to Rabbi Meir and who had two children that were awarded the title of Rabbi. There is no direct statement that she had the title Rabbi, but if anyone did- she would of). Judges etc were NOT Rabbis and were often not Kohanim (priests) either- unless they earned the title and were awarded it by the Nasi (and to be a Kohen you had to be a MALE descendant of Aaron). Devorah was a prophetess and a Judge, but not a Rabbi.

Answer 2

Yes, there are female rabbis; I've seen a couple at the local Liberal synagogue - and, I must be very honest, I felt very uncomfortable with it. It isn't traditional for a woman to be a rabbi, and it just seems very wrong somehow. (Apologies to all the feminists out there; it's just that tradition is tradition.)

In the ancient biblical way, women were and still are honored in the role of 'mother' or, as it is termed in many tribal cultures, 'grandmother' (clan mother or Elder). They are the nurturers and, indeed, the blood line right back to biblical times comes down to the present matriarchally, i.e. a child is only born a Jew if born to a Jewish mother. The only lineal descendancy on the male (patriarchal) side is that of the Kohanim, the line descended from the high priests of the Temple.

Answer 3

Unfortunately, Reformed female rabbis go overboard in showing how "reformed" they are. The various groups of the Jewish faith have themselves shifted in position since their inceptions. The most "Orthodox" are the Hasidic groups, which actually were breakaway protestors from Orthodox Judiasm some 250 years ago. The Reform movement started in Germany about 1800, and took the position that Jews could ditch many of the Orthodox beliefs (including food laws) and do services in the spoken language of their country. The Conservatives broke away from the Reform movement about 1900 because they felt the Reform had gone too far. Other groups include Reconstructionists, and most of the Orthodox, who are called the "New Orthodox". I believe the Conservatives also have women rabbis (being a congregation's rabbi is tough work and the demand outstrips the supply). Reform Judiasm has recently begun to swing back somewhat towards the Conservative view, but female rabbis are here to stay.

Answer 4

You have orthodoxed Catholics and Jews, Consevatives and Liberals. There are a number of Female Rabbi's
( teachers) according to Leviticus19:15, 2nd Samuel 13:14.

The same goes for Protestants who have female Ministers. Acts Chapter 10, 2nd Timothy 2:23...God made women too Genesis 2...why would He not approve of them? Ruth, Esther, Mary, Eunice, Aquilla Read Matthew Chapter 1...women are mentioned in the Genealogy of Jesus in the New Testament.

Deborah led men in the Old Testament.Judges 4:4 and was a judge in Ancient Israel. To be a judge they were also priests or rabbis! .. Hope that gives you some insight. God does respect the wishes and traditions of men and does not deny people due to gender, social status or race or skin color. He uses willing vessels.

Answer 5

orthodox are generally gender-separated and do not have female rabbis.

Conservative... some conservative accept female rabbis, some do not. its not a huge deal really. younger people are more likely to be ok with it, where older might not be.

in reform, female rabbis are compltely accepted.

not all jewish people keep kosher. its not a fundamental thing that if you don't keep kosher your not Jewish. (though some extremely observant people may feel that it is, its not the majority) and reform are very relaxed on such things.

in conservative, its probably half an half that keep kosher and those that don't.

Answer 6

She's probably Reform.

In Orthodox branches, we only have male rabbis. And we keep all the other laws, too, whilst Reform doesn't (hence the beef and cheese.)

Answer 7

I also know a Female Rabbi. Her name is Rabbi Quinn. Has a web site. You may look it up. I won't give it.
I thought Rabbi's could not be female, but she said she went to rabbi school.
Rev. TomCat

Answer 8

I didnt think they allowed that..