28.01.2012                      04.Schwat. 5772                      Bo

Judentum:

Ask the Rabbi: May women serve as rabbis?

The issue of women receiving rabbinic ordination has recently roiled the Orthodox community, particularly in America.

The issue of women receiving rabbinic ordination has recently roiled the Orthodox community, particularly in America. While no widely-recognized decisors of Jewish law have endorsed such an innovation, it remains on the agenda of some Orthodox activists. To facilitate greater dialogue, Rabbi Michael Broyde and I wrote a 34- page article surveying the various halachic and policy issues at stake (Hakirah 11). This column will briefly summarize two of the major legal issues, while the more complete article (available on the web) greatly elaborates on additional aspects.
The historic institution of semicha (rabbinic ordination), which ceased in late antiquity, recognized a scholar as a bearer of the oral tradition and a potential member of the Sanhedrin who could adjudicate in all realms of Jewish law (MT Sanhedrin 4:1-3). In contrast, the contemporary notion of semicha, which originated in medieval times, represents a more limited mandate from a teacher to permit his student to issue rulings in Jewish law in areas of his expertise (YD 242:14). According to some, such authorization is unnecessary following the teacher’s death (Rivash 271), even as the consensus view believes that such certification is always required (Shu”t Radach 18:10). Such certification, however, is not necessary to teach Torah or to explicate decided matters of basic Jewish law (YD 242:8-9)….