OMG-D An Orthodox Woman Rabbi

The New York Times (8/21) reported that Dina Najman, “a mother of three and an expert in Jewish bioethics, will become the spiritual leader of Kehilat Orach Eliezer, a small Upper West Side congregation. She will not be called rabbi; instead, she has been given the title of rosh kehillah, or head of congregation. It is the highest position in the community, and she will be performing many of the functions of a rabbi, within certain limitations that have been laid out by the congregation’s leaders in an effort to abide by Jewish law…While Ms. Najman will be the spiritual leader, because she is a woman she will not be allowed to lead services or read from the Torah. Nor will she be counted toward the minyan, or preside over certain events like baby-naming ceremonies and weddings. What she will do, however, is deliver sermons, answer questions about Jewish law from congregants, teach classes on Jewish texts and counsel people, all traditional rabbinical functions.”

When I read this I thought this was fairly innocuous and unimportant It turns out it is a big deal to the world of blogging. Modern Orthodox bloggers find the entire episode offensive. The distinguished blogger Hirhurim (8/17) sniffed, “this has nothing to do with Orthodoxy.” His reason was that although the congregation abides by Orthodox halacha, the previous rabbi was Prof. David Weiss-Halivni formerly of JTS and Columbia. It is therefore stamped with the original sin of Conservative Judaism even if its practices are strictly Orthodox and it is not a member of any conservative rabbinical organization. The irony here is that Prof. Halivni resigned from JTS when the Conservative movement agreed to ordain women rabbis.

The blogger Cross-Currents says, without any evidence, “It is fine that Congregation Kehilat Orach Eliezer, in the words of the Times, “functions essentially as a modern Orthodox community, seeking to adhere closely to halakah, or Jewish law. It’s close, it just isn’t all the way there.” I appreciate the pun on ‘close’, but a joke does not make somebody into a Conservative. In fact, the majority of Conservatives, especially the group that is now in charge, would consider this congregation far too religiously extreme. I don’t think Prof. Hauptman will be davening here in the near future.

Reading the comments on the various blogs, the main complaints against a woman leading a congregation seem to stem from two main underlying concerns. Some Orthodox men think a woman rabbi is an oxymoron. They just don’t think it is possible for a woman, whatever her competence in Jewish law, to be the leader of a shul. I think some of this has to do with the imagery in the study of Torah. If the Torah is marked as female, then the acts of penetrating the Torah, mastering its intricate details, clinging to the Torah, and even loving the Torah, seem to be naturally associated primarily with a male. Nature, itself, at least on the Orthodox view, favors heterosexual relations. Whatever the exact underlying psychology, many Orthodox Jews find it impossible to idealize a woman as a spiritual leader.

The second concerns come from Modern Orthodox Jews who feel that if they were associated with these abstruse, vaguely Orthodox groups, they would be exposed to devastating criticism from the right. Charedim don’t have a problem with this woman since it will be a long time coming before Rabbi Najman will be delivering sermons in the Vishnitzer’ Bais Medrash or any similar place. The Modern Orthodox realize they are vulnerable to criticism from charedim on their right because of the porous and somewhat indefinite left flank. They feel it incumbent to differentiate themselves from any changes that have not already been accepted by Modern Orthodoxy. All they have at their disposal, since Hashem didn’t lay down the rules for how to be Modern orthodox is the essentialist gambit: “You call THAT orthodox,” followed by eyes rolling upward. They seem to feel if it isn’t already common practice at Yeshiva University it can’t be Orthodox. These same Modern Orthodox are the first to characterize the Chasam Sofer’s slogan ‘’everything new is forbidden ‘’ as rigid and fanatic.

What we have here is a congregation that is either Orthodox or something in between Orthodox or Conservative, which has yet to be classified into some newly created denomination. There’s a huge space between left-wing Orthodoxy and the Conservative movement, and there’s enough room for a dozen variants. My view is the more the merrier. I think all these organizations, including Drisha, YCT Rabbinical School, the now partially defunct Edah group, The Union of Traditional Judaism, the Jewish Orthodox Feminine Alliance (JOFA) and many others that are in the making are all to be welcomed. In time all these grops may someday coalesce into a new ‘’frum- enough- and- MODERN’’ denomination in Jewish life. If this will force the Modern Orthodox to become more charedi, what can I say … it is difficult to be a Jew.