In my opinion, Rabbi Avi Weiss and his pet cause to ordain women as rabbis under the titles of “Rabbas” or ‘Maharats” has probably set the progression of orthodox women back by at least a few decades. Singlehandedly, perhaps unintentionally, Rabbi Weiss has made orthodox feminism and the fight for women’s advancement within 20th-21st century orthodoxy a movement hinged upon acceptance of him and his rabbinic school, founded in 1999, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah.
Essentially, there has been a pishing match between Weiss and other RCA rabbis since at least 1997, when Weiss first coined the term “Open Orthodoxy,” as a way to define a breakoff movement from Modern Orthodoxy that is committed to traditional halacha, but open to innovations and concepts from larger society. This breach was widened when Weiss resigned his teaching post from Stern College in 1999 (the women’s arm of the Modern Orthodox academic and rabbinical ordination flagship, Yeshiva University) to start Yeshivat Chovevei Torah.
The distance grew further when Weiss opened Yeshivat Maharat, a new school dedicated to ordaining women to be the spiritual equivalent of rabbis, headed by Sara Hurwitz, who would be the first Maharat ordained. In 2010, Weiss attempted to change her title from Maharat, to “Rabba,” which sparked such outrage that the Agudath Israel Council of Torah Sages issued a statement declaring the ordination of women to be a break from orthodoxy:
““Any congregation with a woman in a rabbinical position of any sort cannot be considered Orthodox,” proclaimed the 10-member Council of Torah Sages of Agudath Israel of America—deemed American ultra-Orthodoxy’s most authoritative rabbinic body—in a February public statement. Its director of public policy, Avi Shafran, was outraged: “Tznius [modesty] isn’t a mode of dress,” he said. “It includes the idea that women are demeaned and not honored when they’re put in the public eye and put on a pedestal. The position he [Weiss] has created violated the concept.” Whether or not the ordination violates a specific halacha [Jewish religious law] is unimportant, Shafran explained. “There is nothing in the Shulhan Aruch about keeping a cat in the aron kodesh [the holy ark in the synagogue]. It’s technically permitted, but it’s wrong to do.””
Meanwhile, when the RCA let it be known that it was considering expelling Weiss from its organization over the issue, Weiss, backed down from using the title “Rabba.” In turn, the RCA felt the need to distance itself from Weiss’s activities concerning female ordination, while not insulting it’s more liberal minded modern orthodox membership. That year at its annual meeting, the RCA issued this statement (as summarized by Moment Magazine) –
“….the RCA passed a resolution that praised the increased Torah education of women and encouraged more “halachically and communally appropriate professional opportunities” for women in the Orthodox world, while stating categorically: “We cannot accept either the ordination of women or the recognition of women as members of the Orthodox rabbinate, regardless of title.” The RCA did not provide halachic reasoning for the prohibition.”
In spite of, or maybe because of, RCA pressure to curb his activities, Rabbi Weiss continued ahead with his efforts to graduate Maharats from his program and place them in positions of spiritual leadership in Modern Orthodox shuls throughout North America. The graduates who have been hired are essentially functioning as assistant rabbis and educators in their congregations.
Of course, Weiss’s flagrant disregard for the RCA’s disapproval came at a cost. The RCA declared that it would not grant membership in its organization to any man whose sole rabbinic ordination came from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah. Essentially, the RCA does not recognize smicha that comes from Rabbi Avi Weiss.
In protest, Rabbi Weiss resigned from the RCA earlier this summer, probably to the relief of the RCA administration which has been trying to distance the organization from his activities, lest they be delegitimized in the eyes of other orthodox denominations by association. With Rabbi Weiss gone from among their ranks, the RCA has recently made a bolder statement about their rejection of ordaining women in positions of spiritual leadership resembling the rabbinate. After a direct vote by RCA membership, the organization issued a resolution which formally bans female rabbis –
“RCA members with positions in Orthodox institutions may not ordain women into the Orthodox rabbinate, regardless of the title used; or hire or ratify the hiring of a woman into a rabbinic position at an Orthodox institution; or allow a title implying rabbinic ordination to be used by a teacher of Limudei Kodesh in an Orthodox institution….
This resolution does not concern or address non-rabbinic positions such as Yoatzot Halacha (advisors on Jewish law), community scholars, Yeshiva University’s Graduate Program for Women in Advanced Talmudic Study, and non-rabbinic school teachers,” the resolution concludes. “So long as no rabbinic or ordained title such as “Maharat” is used in these positions, and so long as there is no implication of ordination or a rabbinic status, this resolution is inapplicable.”
If this isn’t a step backwards for women who wish to seek spiritual leadership positions within orthodox institutions, I don’t know what is. So you tell me, has Rabbi Avi Weiss helped or hurt the cause? Is this resolution by the RCA actually a protest against individual women seeking higher scholarship and leadership opportunities while using a random title, or is it about their beef with Weiss? Also, in the middle of this brouhaha, where are the Maharats? Will Yeshivat Maharat be issuing a formal response? Will Sara Hurwitz and other Maharat graduates and current students respond with their opinions on the matter? What will the future hold for those Maharats who already hold positions and titles within orthodox institutions? Will they be fired or will their title simply be changed? Will future graduates of Yeshivat Maharat have any hope for employment in institutions headed by RCA rabbis? If not, where will they go?
The orthodox feminist movement is much bigger than any one man. When the advancement of women becomes the lynch pin issue dividing Modern Orthodoxy and Open Orthodoxy, or the focus of the rift between Rabbi Avi Weiss and his enemies at the RCA, it takes the fight out of the hands of women and places it squarely into the hands of men. Rabbi Weiss’s personal conflict with the RCA shouldn’t be allowed to derail women’s progress. The poster child for orthodox feminism shouldn’t be a man. Women will never make gains until they stop looking for male sponsorship and start speaking up for themselves.
