[Avodah] Maharat

[Noam Stadlan via Avodah]

I am sorry I do not have more time to devote to this discussion and will
bow out.

A few details:

 I may have misrepresented the Chatam Sofer in that he was critiquing
certain categories of semicha and not the entire enterprise, I have to look
up the underlying sources to be sure.  The article is in Or HaMizrach 44
a-b p 54. by R. Shetzipanski(I hope the transliteration does him justice).
There are  other sources on the the Halachic/ historical aspects of semicha
including one by R. Breuer in the journal Tziyon. and many others. I do not
have time to find and read them all, but I think the point is clear in the
article cited above.

In the volume found on Otzar Hachochma, the teshuva addressing semichah of
the Maharik is number 117, not 113(as stated in the OU paper), which may
explain my difficulty in finding it.

I think the plain reading of the Rambam in Hilchot Sanhedrin 4 is that he
is discussing Mosaic semicha that was still operative in the time of the
Gemara. which is why in 4:6 he states that it can only be done in Eretz
Yisrael and in 4:8 he includes a discussion of semicha for dinei kinasot
both of which are not applicable(or have not been applied) to modern
semicha.  So it is a stretch to state that this Rambam implies anything
about current Hora'ah or semichah.

I have not found any specific statements that a woman is not qualified to
reach the state of 'hegiah l'hora'ah', and certainly not in the
modern(non-Mosaic) context.  I am not arguing that some of the sources cant
be read to come to this conclusion, but it seems to be a novel halachic
statement(similar to the OU rabbis making a new halachic category of "stuff
that a shul rabbi does") and the only characteristic is that women are
forbidden from it.  I suggest that if someone on the left had made a
similar claim, they would be accused of pretzeling the Halacha to support a
pre-existing mahalach.

I very much appreciate the time and effort that was expended in the
discussion and I hope that I have been able to illustrate at the very
least, that there is a very good and rational case to be made in favor of
women's ordination and it certainly is not 'beyond the pale' of reasonable
understanding of the Halacha.  And perhaps even that those who oppose are
the ones who are trying to find arguments when a fair reading of the
sources indicate that there really is none specifically applicable to the
issue at hand.

Thanks to the Rav who referenced the article in Tradition on triage.  That
is an excellent source. I was actually thinking of a similar statement made
by R. Avraham Steinberg in his Encyclopedia of Medical Ethics on the topic
of triage.

thanks
Noam
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