Orthodox Women to be Trained as Sort of-Almost-Maybe Rabbis?

In March, Rabbi Avi Weiss, the founder and president of a liberal Orthodox rabbinical school, effectively ordained Sara Hurwitz as the first female Orthodox rabbi- but without giving her the title of “rabbi.”  Though her course of study was the same as that of the men in the rabbinical school founded by Weiss, it was decided that her title, instead of rabbi, ought to be “maharat,” an acronym for Manhigah Hilchatit Ruchanit Toranit- or “Leader in Jewish law, spirituality, and Torah.” 

            Now, Weiss and Hurwitz have announced their intention to open a school, “Yeshivat Maharat,” to train and ordain more Orthodox women, with the goal of preparing women to be religious leaders of synagogues, schools, and college campuses.  While the women will not be granted the title of “rabbi,” hopefully the founding of Yeshivat Maharat will provide for an expansion of the role of women within the realm of Orthodox leadership. 

It’s not perfect- it’s clear that these women will not be equal, in title or in practice, to their male counterparts, even though Weiss has stated that they will be “full members of the Rabbinic clergy.”   There is also no guarantee that many Orthodox institutions will have any interest in hiring women as religious leaders in the immediate future.  In fact, most mainstream Orthodox institutions, such as the Orthodox Union and Yeshiva University, have not publicly acknowledged this development in any way, which is likely a sign that they don’t support the advent of the maharat.  Significantly, however, there was also no outpouring of rage or accusations of Torah violation from members of these groups.  Maybe they are ready to accept this innovation, or maybe they’re not- it seems at this point that only time will tell.

            From a non-Orthodox perspective, the newfound opportunity for women to be ordained as maharats seems to be behind the times.  The Reform movement has been ordaining women as full-fledged rabbis since 1972, and the Conservative movement followed suit when it ordained its first female rabbi in 1985.  In both of these movements, female members of the clergy are part of the accepted norm, and have been for years.  There is no longer anything revolutionary or newsworthy about following female religious leaders. But in the Orthodox movement, leadership roles have remained inaccessible to women for the most part, and changes are slower to take hold.  Hopefully, the work of Rabbi Weiss and Maharat Hurwitz will with time lead to the acceptance of female religious leaders by the mainstream Orthodox community- a development that, by non-Orthodox standards, is long overdue.