Josh Yuter on the Politics of Ordaining Female Rabbis

Over at YUTOPIA, Josh Yuter (perhaps one of the best minds to be ordained at the R' Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary at Yeshiva University) offers an independent analysis of the controversy surrounding the issue of ordaining women as rabbis. After discussing the similar approaches of members of the Conservative Movement and members of the Orthodox Movement (and providing a thought-provoking definition of "Orthodox Judaism"), Yuter muses:

The irony of the dispute over women's ordination is that both sides are employing similar authoritarian tactics of forcing their authority on the broader community at large. The RCA could argue that it is fact their mandate to do so as a major Orthodox rabbinic organization. At the same time, no one who possesses any sort of rabbinic title has the right to demand or expect others to respect their degree or position as a religious authority. For example, a graduate of Yeshiva University's rabbinical school should not expect Jews in hareidi communities to seriously acknowledge their ordination and vice versa. In the spirit of egalitarianism, women who wish to be ordained as rabbis have no right to assume that because of their ordination they will be taken seriously as legitimate halakhic authorities, but just like male rabbis, they must constantly and consistently prove themselves to their specific constituents.

In contrast to the above debate, the Tanna Yehoshua Ben Perachya stated "עשה לך רב" – make for yourself a master (M. Avot 1:6). The choice of a spiritual leader is ultimately an individual one, not dictated by society, and there does not seem to be evidence to preclude a woman from being in this role regardless of title. This relationship is ideally a sacred bond, and one which must be entered into freely and nurtured regularly without the burdens of social politics. Similarly, all rabbis and rabbinic professionals must remember that their primary mission is not the defense of "Orthodox Judaism" – by any definition – but rather to teach Torah to the best of their ability.

In addition, it is also worth mentioning that within the terminology of the halakha, Jewish law, the word "rabbi" (originally pronounced "ribbi") referred to a judge ordained by the Supreme Court of Israel (or by a judge already ordained by the Court). Without a Supreme Court of Israel to ordain judges, there are no "rabbis"; which is perhaps why many Jewish communities across the world called their legal guides and spiritual leaders not "rabbis" or "rabbanim" but "hakhamim" - "sages," a title reflecting their own wisdom rather than their affiliation with an established institution.