[Avodah] Tzeni'us and gender roles

[Meir Shinnar]

> Here's where I think the issue is. I think R' Weiss is being
> disingenuous about how he presents this. He wants to create a woman who
> can be the sole leader of a community, and he's not doing it because he
> thinks that people can improve their halachic observance that way.
> AISI, R' Weiss wants to build a female pulpit rabbi so that he can show
> the world we have gender equality. His constituency is so enamored with
> the idea of gender equality that they're willing to pay for this.
>
This is problematic, and reflective of much of the discussion of these
issues.  RKB seems to think that there is a real need for  women
trained to answer she'elot, and the model of a woman who works as the
"women's rabbi" would be something that would be useful.
Howeve, his problem wit the maharat is his belief that RAW is being
dishonest ("disingenuous") ..

We would not tolerate such aspersions about other leaders.

This is reflective of mch of the discussion on "feminist" issues -
people are willing to acknowledge a problem, are willing to
acknowledge that the solution proposed answers the problem and is
within the parameters of halacha, do not have a better solution - and
yet are opposed to it because they ascribe impure motivations to
either the male rabbis endorsing the proposal or the women involved -
wihtout any evidence that they exist, nor, even if they did, that they
should matter....

Meir Shinnar