From the beginning of Rabbinic Judaism until the mid-20th century, all rabbis had been men. This changed with the arrival of liberal movements, which began ordaining women rabbis institutionally since 1972, when the first female Reform rabbi was ordained. Reconstructionist and Conservative Judaism followed suit a few years later.

The Orthodox movement has completely opposed accepting that a woman can be a rabbi. But in recent years, changes have begun to occur in this branch of Judaism. Although the term orthodox means «one who faithfully follows the principles of a doctrine,» voices of change have emerged within the Orthodox community in recent times. One such voice is that of Abraham «Avi» Weiss, a Modern Orthodox rabbi who received his degree from Yeshivah University.

Weiss coined the term «Open Orthodoxy» in 1997 to describe a form of Orthodoxy that, while maintaining its complete adherence to Halacha, is intellectually open to the secular world, cares for all Jews regardless of their religious affiliation or observance, and seeks to give women a greater role in religious practice. In 1999, after resigning as a teacher at Yeshivah University, Avi Weiss founded Yeshivah Chovevei Torah to train Orthodox rabbis with this new approach. In 2006, Weiss sought recognition from the Rabbinical Council of America, the umbrella organization for Modern Orthodox rabbis, but was unsuccessful.

In 2009, she founded the Yeshivat Maharat to train women to be “maharat,” the acronym for “Manhigah Halachtit Ruchanit Toranit,” which in Hebrew means “Leader in Torah, Halacha, and Spirituality,” a term coined to refer to women trained as rabbis. Sara Hurwitz was the first woman to be ordained a “maharat,” and in 2010 she changed her title to “Rabba.” This movement has also taken place in Israel. In 2015, Jennie Rosenfeld became the first Orthodox woman to lead the Efrat community as a “manhiga ruchanit,” or spiritual leader.

Another change promoted by Open Orthodoxy is the “partnership minyan,” a prayer group that maximizes the participation of women. In these groups, having a minyan involves having both ten men and ten women to pray. This began in 2002 in the United States and Israel. The “social minyan” is a group committed to observing halacha, which is why it has a mechitzah that separates men and women and prays according to Orthodox rules, but allows women to read the Torah, receive aliyah, and pray Psukei D’zimrah.

Avi Weiss tells us: “Open Orthodox Judaism seeks to include women more in rituals and spiritual leadership, to be more inclusive of those with different sexual preferences, and to be more inclusive and facilitate those who want to convert to Judaism. They seek to engage in dialogue with Jews of other denominations and even with people of other religions.” Rabbi David Hartman said: “I grew up in a home where to be pious I didn’t need someone to hate, where I felt close to God without having to say, ‘I don’t like him, I won’t go to his shul’” [synagogue in Yiddish]. It is the difference between Noah’s ark, closed and isolated, and the tent of our patriarchs Abraham and Sarah, open on all four sides.

By: Marcos Gojman

Bibliography: Articles by Avi Weiss, David Suissa, Moshe Averick, and other sources.