while the Conservative movement has decided Sh'ma that if there is room within the tradition, or if there is a precedent, changes may be instituted with great care. Once it is determined that the a journal of Jewish responsibility lines of rabbinic authority may be drawn else- where than in the Orthodox decisors, the ques- 9/164, DECEMBER 22,1978 tion arises whether such lines need be drawn at all. To this, the Conservative movement has answered in the affirmative. Indeed, the areas where they differ from the Orthodox are quite few, and that is why it is of note when the Con- servative movement considers a major change, particularly one with little or no historical precedent. So far, they have decided that women may be called to the , counted to a , etc. However, this is only a permission, not necessarily a widely adopted practice. With Should women be conservative ? women being granted full ritual equality in the Anne Mintz Jewish community, it would be obvious that an irrevocable break with Orthodoxy had occurred. What follows are essentially statements made to In January 1979 the members of the Rabbinical the Commission's hearings in Minneapolis and Assembly of the Conservative movement will New York and Washington, D.C. The first is vote at their convention in Los Angeles on composed of testimony from Minneapolis which whether or not to admit women rabbis as has been edited to present the most cogent members. The R A. accepts graduates of other arguments for and against the ordination of accredited rabbinical schools (besides the Jewish women. The hearings there turned out to be Theological Seminary) for membership if they surprisingly one-sided, leading to the possible meet additional qualifications. Hence women interpretations that Minneapolis is a-typical, or from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College the opposition to the proposal has been over- and the Hebrew Union College — Jewish Insti- rated or that its opponents have chosen not to tute of Religion may soon qualify for member- speak up. The second and third articles present ship in the R A. Anticipating this situation, an two women's views on the impact this vote could interdisciplinary "Commission for the Study of have on the movement. the Ordination of Women as Rabbis" (by the • Conservative movement) was created in June 1977 to recommend a policy based on the study To change a tradition: one city's views t }f traditional sources and on the testimony of » nembers of the Conservative movement. More Judy Aronson, Steven Foldes, Carol Glass, f mportant, if the Conservative rabbinate votes to and Riv-Ellen Prell-Foldes | iccept women as members, the Chancellor of the 1 i ewish Theological Seminary, Gerson The work of the Conservative Movement's , lohen, has stated that he will abide by such a Commission to Study the Ordination of Women lecision and encourage acceptance of women to as Rabbis reached local communities in the fall of :he rabbinical school. 1978 when its members convened hearings This is more than an issue concerning women. across the country on the controversial subject. J7hat is at stake here is whether or not a move- Commission members Rabbi Fishel Pearlmutter nent can institute fundamental changes in the and Rabbi Gordon Tucker travelled to Minne- wlachah and retain the foundation upon which apolis—St. Paul on 13 September 1978 to accept ewish tradition is built. All the major groups testimony from the region's Conservative . :xcept the Orthodox agree that changes may be The Jews of this area were informed of this event nade in the halachah. The Reform and Recon- through newsletters, informal net- tructionist movements incorporated the notion works, and an article in the Minneapolis Tribune. )f the flexibility of halachah into their theologies, After six hours of intense testimony from forty-

25 i! six men and women it became apparent that this "I wanted to be a rabbi, and if my name had been Jehudah j event served for all but one of them as an instead of Jehudit, I would have been encouraged. As it occasion to reaffirm their commitment to a - was, I was told "Well, you can be a Rebbetzin ..." ish life within the Conservative movement while (Jane Strauss) asserting the necessity for change. Those who offered testimony represented an impressive How Shall Women Integrate Their Lives? range of ages, occupations, and involvement in The impact of the secular feminist movement on the organized Jewish community. They included Conservative Jews is most apparent in the second academics, physicians, lawyers, social workers, topic participants addressed. Many argued that as Hadassah and synagogue board members, uni- American society steadily unfolded opportunities versity and high school students, secular and for womens' lives, Jewish practice appeared j Jewish educators, feminists, and parents. This increasingly limited. This disjunction between article's purpose is to present the common secular and Jewish norms and values led some themes of their testimony, illustrating them with participants to conclude, not without anguish, selected portions of the participants' statements. that until women are ordained as rabbis they The Context for Serious Deliberation remain "partial" Jews. The opportunity to speak on the question was seen by many participants as a vehicle for self reflection, education, and political organization. In anticipation of the hearing, the Minnesota Sh'ma members of the Rabbinical Assembly unani- a journal of Jewish responsibility mously supported a statement in favor of women's ordination, read by Rabbi Arnold Editor Eugene B. Borowitz Goodman, which said in part, "It is our collective Asst. to the Editor Jeffrey K. Salkin opinion that our congregations are prepared to accept Administrator Alicia Seeger women as rabbis... Any delay (in the Seminary accept- Fellows Steve Bauman, David Dalin, Mory Korenblit, ing women for ordination j should be regarded as an act of Michelle Mentzer, Anne Mintz injustice. .. Justice delayed is justice denied." At least Production Photo Graphics two hundred and fifty people listened to the Contributing Editors Saul Berman, J. David Bleich, testimony at the Adath Jeshurun synagogue over Balfour Brickner, Paula Hyman, Nora Levin, Richard six hours, participating actively by their intense Levy, Hans J. Morgenthau, David Novak, Harold attention and applause for the forty-five people Schulweis, Henry Schwarzschild, Steven Schwarzschild, who supported the ordination of women. Seymour Siegel, Sharon Strassfeld, Elie Wiesel, Arnold Participants addressed a few common themes in Jacob Wolf, Michael Wyschogrod. their testimony, indicating the grounds on which Sh'ma welcomes articles from diverse'points of view. Conservative Jews want the Commission to make Hence articles present only the views of the author, not those its ordination decision. We have assembled of the editors. We do not correct obvious typos. , * excerpted testimony illustrating these concerns, Donations to Sh'ma, Inc., though particularly welcome duringS including both private and public, abstract our annual deficit-reduction campaign, are needed and hence'| concerns. Many participants, women in particu- appreciated all year long. They are tax-deductible. I lar, reached into their childhood experiences to Address all correspondence to: Box 567, Port Washington, | recall the positive sense of becoming a Jew. The N.Y. 11050. For a change of address, send present mailing I first theme that these transcripts address is how label and new address and allow four weeks. gender limited their early participation in . Sh'ma is published bi-weekly except June, July and August by Sh'ma, Inc. Office of publication: 735 Port Washington j "While I was growing up I would see my mother reading Blvd., Port Washington, N.Y. 11050. Subscription $14.00 for Jewish books. If I asked her a question her answer was, 2 years in U.S.A. and Canada; $19.00 for 3 years. $10.00 a "Girls don't have to know." With my brothers, that was year overseas. Institutional bulk (10 or more copies to one different. They needed a Jewish education. It gives me a address) $3.50 each per year. Copyright 1978 by Sh'ma, Inc. j different feeling today about myself as a woman when I POSTMASTER: Please forward Form 3579 to Box 567, Port see that women can be as Jewishly knowledgeable. Maybe Washington, N.Y. 11050. I would have grown up feeling differently about myself if Second class postage paid at Port Washington, N.Y. there had been a woman rabbi in my congregation." Publication Number 894500. (Shirley Novich) 9/164, December 22, 1978 26 I 1 "My fourth child is a gifted person who loves synagogue feel that they are no longer welcome in their own com- and Torah school. This child burns with Torah. munity. The message is clear. People can adapt to change. This child wants to be a rabbi. But she is only nine years It is now the institution that must adapt to people." (Judy old and does not yet realize that women cannot be rabbis. Aronson) She does not yet realize the moral inconsistencies in Judaism... How much longer must women of ambition "The arguments against the entrance of women into the and talent seek career satisfaction in only the secular rabbinate are similar to the arguments against the world?" (Barbara Bundt) entrance of women to medicine. Medicine has survived. I suspect the Jewish religion will survive also." (Larry "When our society is opening so many of its doors to me, in Kaplan) so many professions andfields, it is a slap in the face that my religion closes the door on the abilities I have to offer "Does this mean we are abandoning our traditions? Are it. Not that religion's values and society's values have to those of us who favor this change less traditional than our be identical, but on this issue, concerning Judaism's opponents? We are abandoning a time worn practice of sex honoredposition of the rabbinate, I agree with society that segregation in Judaism. But we gain rather than lose in if a woman is qualifiedfor a job she ought to be allowed to our traditionalism since our traditions remain living have it." (Judy Ribnick) traditions only if new generations of Jews actively embrace and practice them. Jews who live in the modern "I have concluded that I, Judy Aronson, an assertive and world cannot tolerate for long to observe a religious system independent woman by any other standard, was so condi- beset by a modern day anachronism." (Steven Foldes) tioned to believe that my own community would reject me and not recognize me that I was afraid to raise the issue of As concerned as participants were with the con- being a pallbearer at my grandfather's funeral. I do not sequences of ordaining women, they were as want my daughters raised this way." deeply concerned with the consequences of not ordaining women. They asked, given rates of Positive Effects are to be Anticipated Jewish assimilation, why would we exclude many The testimony was characterized by more than women? descriptions of religious experiences of exclusion. "Discrimination by sex in Jewish ritual is one ancient Many spoke positively of contacts with women in tradition that is already passing quickly from active positions of expertise in their local . adherence. The Conservative Movement's recognition of Bi Women and men argued that a Judaism which egalitarian minyanim and granting o^aliyot to women meaningfully includes women is a Judaism which II.' are public acknowledgements of this fundamental shift. places women into expanded and positive roles. Unless the Conservative Movement is prepared to lead a 'When I was growing up I didn't have a female role dwindling number of people unaffected by this broad ' nodel. Most of my role models were men; rabbis I saw at social movement (feminism) into isolation from the modern amp and in my congregation. In the past few months world, it must complete the recognition of women's equal nothers have said to me, 'It's really special having you ritual rights." (Steven Foldes) >ere. For the first time my daughter has a female role "We have been denied the benefits of our female counter- nodel.' "(Carol Glass, Program Planner and parts. If we were to double our resources we would have a Coordinator, Adath Jeshurun Congregation) counter contribution by a female Isaiah or Jeremiah. Our 'My sense of commitment to Judaism has strengthened prophets are only half of what they might have been... ince I moved into the Minneapolis community. That Waste is a terrible thing... To waste human resources is ommitment is basedpartly on the fact that in my congre- the most vulgar of all." (Bert Ribnick) 1 ation women participate in all aspects of religious life. I _Not Everyone Approved of Ordaining eel more included than I ever felt. That makes me feel The sole opponent of women's ordination at the tore Jewish. I wouldfeel moreJewish still if I knew that hearing also expressed his position in terms of >omen could be ordained as rabbis." (Marsha Gelpe) the survival of Judaism. This speaker was Phillip Wiener, and he began his testimony by character- Ve have described testimony which argued for izing women as equal to men in all respects "if we hange out of personal experience. However, set aside the intellectual side." However, he •articipants were simultaneously concerned with argued that women have unique abilities which he possible impact of those changes on the allow them to be "gentle, patient, forgiving, novement and Judaism. (and) aiding." He added that "these very femi- Unless women become equals with men in every area of nine attributes" render women inappropriate for ewish life, women as well as men of my generation will the rabbinate because, "this is a hard world, and even 27 though you might think that a rabbi is not subject to all very willing to go further and say, 'yes, we want women the hardness of the world, at times it becomes important rabbis among us.' " (Marsha Gelpe) that he shall be tough, and women just don't have the nature of being tough... I can visualize a woman rabbi being pressured by one of these (tough synagogue board) Conserving tradition and traditionalists members and she breaks out in tears and resigns, where it would never happen with a male rabbi." Miriam Klein Shapiro He concluded that Judaism would disintegrate There was a generation, and I was part of it, under women rabbis because men would leave which grew up in the Conservative movement. the synagogues and withdraw their financial We were brought up in Conservative synagogues, support. He therefore recommended that inspired at Camp Ramah in the summer, nur- "women be educated but not ordained." tured by LTF and USY in the winter, educated at Perhaps anticipating the types of remarks made the Seminary. We were taught that it was pos- by the single opponent of women's ordination, sible to be nonfundamentalistic and yet still be many testified that the question of ordination traditional, that this was the essence of Conserva- should be no question at all. tive Judaism. We were its children and we felt at home emotionally, spiritually, and intellectually. "Every religion faces the reality that some of its laws are no longer relevant, some of its beliefs are harmful to itself We knew that although we were the "traditional- and a group of its members. We must begin ordaining ists" of the movement, it was understood that women in the Conservative movement because the tradi- there was room for all — right, left, center, what- tion to not do so is an unfair, harmful, and even wrong ever the nomenclature. Decisions that were made tradition." (Riv-Ellen Prell-Foldes) such as riding to synagogue on did not shake this comfort. Firstly, because we felt that "I have a sense of regret and disappointment speaking this the decisions, though we might disagree with afternoon because the question is even open to plebiscite them, were within the framework of Halachah. and discussion. I would prefer if the question we were Secondly, we could still decide not to ride our- addressing was: Once we assume the necessity of this selves and yet respect the decision of those who change, what consequences does it have for our congre- chose to ride. gation? How can we prepare ourselves for the change, and how can we bring about some peace during the transition? Now it appears that we have reached a crossroads: ... As to whether or not it is right it is the just thing to do, decisions which are now being made must be and we ought to standfor it." (Hal Steiger) subscribed to by all. A certain conformity is Finally, some participants speculated about how required. While I can respect another's decision national Commission members would interpret to ride and still not ride myself, if a woman is the virtual unanimity of Twin Cities support for counted for a minyan, it affects my prayer; if she is women's ordination. Participants concluded that called for an , it affects the Torah reading to the source of this unanimity was the already tried which / am listening. We cannot both be satisfied. and successful participation of women in all Even worse, there is an active campaign to force aspects of local synagogue life. me to listen. Much has been written about the plight of those women who want ordination; "I do many things which rabbis do though I do not have little has been written about my minority. We too the title. The reception the congregation has given me has require justice, and our cause must be heard as been positive. Most are more than willing to judge me on well. We await the decision of the committee on my ability regardless of my gender. Many assume that I the ordination of women as anxiously as those am a rabbi or studying to become one. Many are also young women who want ordination, for our surprised when they find out that presently the Conserva- future hangs just as much in the balance. tive movement does not ordain women." (Carol Glass) However, when I was asked to write this paper, "There is a danger that people will say 'the Conservative the request was that I would write on the effect Jews of Minneapolis are radicals, so of course they are in that the decision of the Commission would have support of women in the rabbinate.' There may be an on the Conservative movement as a whole. alternative explanation. It may be that this community has taken a chance at letting women participate fully and Ought We Alienate Our Traditionalists? it has been so clear that it has worked out that people are The decision made by this Commission will show 28