Women rabbis and Torah scholars are Jewish women who have received formal semikhah (rabbinic ordination) as rabbis or are recognized for their studies and contributions to Jewish religious tradition, respectively. The ordination of women in Judaism has grown since the 1970s, with thousands of Jewish women having received formal ordination since then (see ). The majority of them have been associated with progressive Jewish religious movements, including Reform Judaism, Conservative Judaism, Liberal Judaism (in the United Kingdom), Reconstructionist Judaism, and Jewish Renewal. In Orthodox Judaism, the issue of women's ordination is complex and has not reached a consensus. Although a large and growing number of Orthodox women have received rabbinic ordination, many major Orthodox communities and institutions reject women's credentials if not ordination. As an alternative approach, some Orthodox Jewish institutions train women for various formal Jewish religious leadership roles, including entail training in Halakha, but no formal rabbinic ordination is granted. Instead, women receive alternative titles. These women, even with their alternative titles, are often perceived as equivalent to traditionally ordained (i.e., male) rabbis.Auman, K. (2016). Feminism, Egalitarianism, Judaism: Where Are We Headed?. Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought, 49(1), 43–48.
Notwithstanding early examples in Jewish biblical and rabbinic tradition, such as Deborah and Bruriah, for much of Jewish history the recognizable roles of the rabbi (rav), preacher (darshan), and Torah scholar (talmid chacham) were almost exclusively limited to Jewish men. With few, rare historical exceptions, such as the case of Asenath Barzani, Jewish women were first offered the possibility for ordination or an equivalent role beginning in the 1920s,Dämmig, L., & Klapheck, E. (2006). Debora's Disciples: A Women's Movement as an Expression of Renewing Jewish Life in Europe. Sandra Lustig et Ian Leveson (éds.), Turning the Kaleidoscope. Perspectives on European Jewry, New York, Berghahn Books, 147–163. but it was not until the 1970s when this became widely accepted.Di Segni, R. "La Donna Rabbino": The Chief Rabbi of Rome Considers the Question of Women in the Rabbinate. Translated by Daniel A. Klein. Originally published in Scritti Sull'ebraismo in Memoria di Emanuele Menachem Artom, edited by Sergio J. Sierra and Elena Lea Artom (Jerusalem, 1996) (pp. 175–187). Early efforts to ordain women date to the late 19th and early 20th century. A small cohort of women are recorded as being candidates for ordination; however, eventually, nearly all were denied ordination. During the 1930s, Regina Jonas of Germany became the first recorded instance of a Jewish woman in modern times receiving formal rabbinical ordination. Subsequent decades saw women-led campaigns within Reform Judaism for the recognition of women rabbis. These campaigns also coincided with the influence of second-wave feminism on Western society. These efforts culminated in the 1972 ordination of Sally Priesand at Hebrew Union College, the flagship institution of Reform Judaism. Subsequently, women rabbis were ordained by all other branches of Progressive Judaism. The formal ordination of women rabbis in Orthodox Judaism began in the 2000s, however its acceptance within Orthodoxy is still a highly contested issue. Nonetheless, in the early 2020s, the State of Israel approved legislation to allow all Jewish women to qualify for the state rabbinic examinations, effectively giving Orthodox women a credential equivalent to those of male rabbis. However, the uses of this credential are limited to certain rabbinic roles.First women pass Israel's rabbinical exams but don't expect to see the leading prayers. Plus61J media. Accessed January 31, 2023.
Historical background
Prior to the 1970s, when ordination of women gained wider acceptance, there are various examples of Jewish women who were formally considered as rabbis, rabbinic authorities, or Torah scholars. However, these instances recorded throughout Jewish history and tradition were perceived as rare, and highly exceptional cases of women occupying rabbinic posts.
Biblical and Talmudic traditions
In the early portions of the Bible, the Hebrew Matriarchs seem to only be mentioned in connection with their husbands or sons, indicating an absence of the feminine voice and narrative in biblical history, an understandable position in a patriarchal society.Ginio, A. M. Perception and Images of the Four Biblical Matriarchs in Rabbi Ya’akov Khulí’s Me’am Lo’ez (1730). However, in the rabbinic tradition, the position of the matriarchs are reinterpreted to highlight their honored status, minimizing actions in the biblical narrative that indicate wrongdoing on their part. Additionally, they are classified as prophetesses whose merit is relied upon by later Jewish generations.Kaunfer, A. (1995). Who knows four? The Imahot in rabbinic Judaism. Judaism, 44(1), 94.Gribetz, S. K. (2018). Zekhut Imahot: Mothers, Fathers, and Ancestral Merit in Rabbinic Sources. Journal for the Study of Judaism, 49(2), 263–296. The exact number of prophetess-matriarchs included in this tradition is unclear. Many sources list Sarah, Rebekah, Leah and Rachel (the wives of the Hebrew Patriarchs), while other sources include Bilhah and Zilpah (Jacob's concubine wives). But while rabbinic views of the matriarchs appear to enhance the status of these women, including a teaching that Sarah converted women to her religion, the matriarchs do not appear as leaders for the entire Hebrew clan.Zucker, D. J., & Reiss, M. (2015). The Matriarchs of Genesis: Seven Women, Five Views. Wipf and Stock Publishers.
This view of ancient Hebrew women appears to change in the later books of the bible. The biblical figure of Deborah the prophetess is described as serving as a judge . According to traditional rabbinic sources, Deborah's judiciary role primarily concerned religious law. Thus, according to this view, Deborah was Judaism's first female religious legal authority, equivalent to the contemporary rabbinical role of posek (rabbinic decisor of Jewish Law). Other rabbinic sources understand the biblical story of Deborah that her role was only that of a national leader and not of a legal authority. Alternatively, other Rabbinic authorities understand Deborah's role to be one that advised Jewish judges, but she herself did not render religious legal rulings.Jacob ben Asher. "Choshen Mishpat, 7:5." Arba'ah Turim. The biblical figure of Huldah the prophetess is understood as functioning in the role of an expert in the Israelite religion. Her contribution is recorded as verifying the legitimacy of changes to the religious practices in ancient Judaism enacted under King Josiah.Handy, L. K. (1994). The Role of Huldah in Josiah's Cult Reform.Priest, J. (1980). Huldah's oracle. Vetus Testamentum, 30(3), 366–368. There are two versions of Huldah's involvement in the Josiah reforms, the first recorded in , the second in , and scholars infer points of difference between the versions.Glatt-Gilad, D. A. (1996). The role of Huldah's prophecy in the chronicler's portrayal of Josiah's reform. Biblica, 77(1), 16–31. Other scholars note Huldah's mark on the urban landscape of the Israelite temple as an indication of her stature in Israelite society.Ilan, T. (2010). Huldah, the Deuteronomic prophetess of the book of Kings. Lectio Difficilior, 1(08), 5. Huldah's character has led to speculation as to the extent of her involvement in writing the Hebrew scriptures using computer programs to dicipher forms of Hebrew anagrams.Kavanagh, P. (2012). Huldah: The Prophet Who Wrote Hebrew Scripture. Wipf and Stock Publishers. However, in reviewing this work, scholars have criticized these findings as flawed owing to the highly speculative methodology.Harbin, M. A. (2013). Huldah: The Prophet Who Wrote Hebrew Scripture. Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 56(3), 593.Lyon, A. E. (2014). Huldah: The Prophet Who Wrote Hebrew Scripture by Preston Kavanagh, Lutterworth, 2013 ( 978‐0‐7188‐9312‐5), 201 pp., pb£17. Reviews in Religion & Theology, 21(2), 233–235.
In Talmudic literature, women are generally excluded from the project of rabbinic interpretation and legal decision making. Nevertheless, the Talmudic figure of Bruriah (2nd century) is described as participating in Jewish legal debates, challenging the rabbis of the time.Samuels, D. (1994). Everybody's Bruriah. Jewish Quarterly, 41(4), 60–60.Patt-Shamir, G. (2010). The Value in Storytelling: Women's Life-Stories in Confucianism and Judaism. Dao, 9(2), 175–191.Kaplan, E. (2020). 7. In the Image of the Divine. In Projecting the Nation (pp. 158–181). Rutgers University Press. Aside from Bruriah, another Talmudic woman, Yalta (wife of Rav Nachman and daughter of the Exilarch) is noted for her scholarship. Recent research has complicated the narrative that women in the times of the Talmud did not study Torah. Close readings of various Talmudic passages point to the familiarity of Torah and rabbinic teachings among women in rabbinic families.Hauptman, J. (2010). A new view of women and Torah study in the talmudic period. Jewish Studies, an Internet Journal JSIJ, 9, 249–292.
Medieval and early modern ages
The history of medieval Jewish women includes various individual forerunners to the modern notion of women rabbis and Torah scholars. The daughters of Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, known as Rashi, living in France in the 11th–12th century, are the subject of Jewish legends claiming that they possessed unusual Torah scholarship. In the 12th century, Bat ha-Levi flourished in Iraq. In the 13th century, a Jewish woman in Italy named Paula Dei Mansi served as a scribe and scholar.Emily Taitz, Sondra Henry & Cheryl Tallan, The JPS Guide to Jewish Women: 600 B.C.E.to 1900 C.E., 2003. In Germany, during the 15th century, Miriam Shapira-Luria was known to have conducted a yeshiva (a higher institution for the study of central Jewish texts) and gave public lectures on Jewish codes of law. Also in Italy, during the 16th century, Fioretta of Modena was regarded as a Torah scholar. Eva Bacharach (c. 1580–1651) was a rabbinical scholar in Prague, the daughter and granddaughter or notable rabbis. A similar case is Bayla Falk, wife of Joshua Falk. Examples of Jewish women who authored Jewish texts from this period include Rebecca bat Meir Tiktiner and Devorà Ascarelli.
It is claimed that in one instance a medieval Jewish woman served as rabbi. In this case, Asenath Barzanialso referred to as Asenath Barazani Mizrahi, see Women Leaders in Judaism, in Sharon Henderson Callahan (ed.) Religious Leadership. p. 323. SAGE. of Iraq is considered by scholars as the first woman rabbi of Jewish history;Bengio, O. (2016). Game changers: Kurdish women in peace and war. The Middle East Journal, 70(1), 30–46. additionally, Barzani is the oldest recorded female Kurdish leader in history.Kurdish Asenath Barzani, the first Jewish woman in history to become a Rabbi , ekurd.net. Retrieved December 25, 2016. The title referred to Barzani by the Jews of Kurdistan was Tannait, the feminine equivalent of Tanna, the title for a Jewish sage of the early Talmudic rabbis.Women Leaders in Judaism, in Sharon Henderson Callahan (ed.) Religious Leadership. p. 323. SAGE. According to researchers, the origin of the Barzani story is the travelogue of Rabbi Petachiah of Regensburg.Rabinowitz, D. (2001). Rayna Batya and Other Learned Women: A Reevaluation of Rabbi Barukh Halevi Epstein's Sources. Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought, 35(1), 55–69.