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| Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef |
As I repeatedly say, there is absolutely nothing wrong with women studying Torah on any level they choose. And to obtain as much knowledge as they can. With respect to Torah knowledge, there is no such thing as too much. It is also perfectly acceptable to give them recognition for any such achievement.
Not doing so is as discriminatory as the 3 womens groups challenging them in the Israel high court - say it is. This has nothing to do with my opinion of any of these groups. It only has to do with this one issue as described in the Jerusalem Post. About which they are right, in my view. The high court has given them 90 days to come up with a plan to do that.
I can see a lot of anti Rabbinate people rolling their eyes just about now. They have no use for a rabbinate they see as corrupt and unresponsive to community needs. They would like nothing better than to ‘defund’ the rabbinate (to use a popular phrase these days). And replace it with a rabbinate that is not corrupt and is responsive.
I am not in favor of defunding the Rabbinate – for reasons beyond the scope of this post. But I am in favor of a major overhaul that will clean things up there without compromising any of their principles. A responsive rabbinate needs to be responsive to every Jewish constituency. Whether Charedim on the one end or secular on the other. That has to be fixed. Big time. One way to start doing that is to recognize that women are people too. And that they have a right to be recognized for their accomplishments in Torah and Halacha.
This does not mean that they should be getting Semicha - and become rabbis. I am opposed to that – again – for reasons beyond the scope of this post. But I don’t think they are asking for that, specifically. Just recognition of some sort they can take to the ‘marketplace’ as experts that can be used in ways other than becoming a rabbi. Such as (among other things) becoming Yoatzot, teaching Torah at a high level, school administration, pastoral counseling, and chaplaincy work in the military, hospitals, or prison.
If the Chief Rabbinate did that, I think it would be a step in the right direction of. It would help blunt criticism from the left. They would show that they are as inclusive as they claim to be. I am therefore very sorry to see that they are so opposed to this. It just chases people further away
I’m not even sure why they are so opposed. Perhaps they see it a slippery slope towards becoming rabbis? I don’t know. If it is, I would advise them not to worry about it. As long as they stay true to their core principles – one of which is that women cannot become rabbis, they should have no problem granting some form of recognition here.
What about the next ‘wave’ of challenges that might include demanding Semicha? They can cross that bridge when they come to it. For now, they need to do what’s right.
Just some of my quick thoughts on this issue.