[Avodah] Women and communal leadership

[Micha Berger via Avodah]

On Mon, Nov 09, 2015 at 11:55:12AM -0500, Michael Feldstein via Avodah wrote:
: http://j.mp/1MSg0PK [Compressed from http://www.jewishpress.com.... -micha]
: 
: A fair and balanced analysis of the halachic issues involved by R. Nati
: Helfgot

Actually, he only raises one issue, serarah.

He also claims that RALichtenstein saw no halachic problem with ordaining
women. This is not accurate; RAL submitted a letter to the RCA in 2010
against. Yes, RAL didn't think the particular issue of serarah was real.

Unlike Rav Kook. RAYK considered a Jewish Democracy to have enough dinim
of malkhus for "melekh velo malkah" to prohibit women voting. Co workers
at the Grus Campus testify that Prof Nechama Leibowitz did not vote
for this reason.

But by focusing only on serarah, RNH manages to vanquish a strawman.

As RHS noted in the Hakirah article I pointed to yesterday, even though
geirim cannot serve in positions of seararah either, semichah was open
to them. We know this because they could serve on BD when the litigants
were dayanim. Which implies that a geir received even Mosaic semichah
deOraisa. Unlike women.

This was Prof Lieberman's objection to JTS ordaining women; it breaks
the whole notion of yoreh yoreh being the remaining splinter of the
original.

Not touched by RNH.

Nor did he address RHS's egalitarian tzenius issue (if we didn't need
men to serve as rabbis, they should be avoiding ordination too) nor
the "mesorah" angle he discusses most often. (Though not in that PDF.)

I think R/Prof Sperber does a more complete job, but a more complete
discussion of how his article struck me is for antoher time, be"H.

Also, while on the topic of sources... R' Baqshi Doron is frequently
cites as permitting the ordination of women as well. However, here is
his letter to the RCA <http://j.mp/1Y3jb9g>. He permits pesaq, but ONLY
on an informal basis. His answer revolves around tzeni'us, and "lo ya'eh
yeheirus leneshaya" (quoting R Nachman in Mes' Megillah).

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Man is equipped with such far-reaching vision,
micha at aishdas.org        yet the smallest coin can obstruct his view.
http://www.aishdas.org                         - Rav Yisrael Salanter
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