[Avodah] maharat

[Noam Stadlan via Avodah]

R. Micha-
if I understand correctly, you posit a category of 'higeah l'hora'ah'(HL).
It is not clear if you say that only those who fall in that category can
give hora'ah, or if there are different categories of hora'ah, and this is
one of them.

You then are saying that in order to be a judge, one has to be HL, and get
semicha.  You obviously hold that a woman cant be a judge, and the barrier
to the woman is actually not semicha, but her not being qualified to be in
the category of hl.

Let us go back and remember that the reason a woman cant be a judge(for
those who hold that way) is based on her not being a witness.  There are
others in that category.  Since there is no reason to differentiate between
those in the category, you are saying that all those others in the category
also are forbidden, not from semicha, but from being in the category of HL.

We also have to keep in mind that not only semuchim but hedyotim can be
dayyanim in some cases.  So, the disqualification of women from HL actually
wouldn't keep them from being dayanim as long as they are hedyotot.  So
your construct actually allows women to judge as long as they are not
claiming to be eligible for semicha.

I have not found any proof for your contention, except for the impressive
lomdus.  Is there a source that specifically states that women are
forbidden from being HL?

The next issue is that you are claiming that HL in the time of the gemara
and Sanhedrin is the same as HL in the modern age.  It seems that you may
be distinguishing between hora'ah, and HL, there being hora'ah that is not
in the category of being given by someone that is HL(if not, you have to
deal with the myriads of sources that state specifically that women can
give hora'ah).  So you and the OU authors may be referring to HL in the
mosaic understanding, and moderns, including YM, are using it in a
different fashion, to refer to non-formal HL.  Because if there is hora'ah
that is not part of the formal HL, there is no restriction on women.

And finally, are you claiming that only someone who can fulfill the
requirements of formal HL can be shul rav? what is the basis for that?  It
seems that even assuming that you are correct(for which I have not found
any support in any references), there is no basis for excluding women from
having non formal hora'ah, someone acknowledging that they are capable of
that non-formal hora'ah, and them functioning as a rabbi and doing what
rabbi's do in shuls and elsewhere.  Your restriction only keeps them from
occupying a formal title which is not neccessary or needed for the job
description.
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