Women , Rabbis , etc

     Growing up it never bothered me that women were not allowed to be rabbis. I never thought much about it and I was much to shy to ever want to be one. It was kind of like the idea of kol ishah to me. I never really wanted to be a professional singer so kol ishah did not effect me much.
      I never found the women's prayer groups too enticing to me either. Being on the more modern orthodox side I like going to a regular shul and afterward there is a co-ed kiddush. Why would a women's only kiddush be better?
       There are many men who have no interest in being rabbis or chazzanim  and would love not to need to have a minyan to daven.
       Perhaps if I grew up reform or conservative I might feel different, but it never especially bothered me that I could never be an orthodox rabbi or be counted as part of a minyan. I guess I never felt that those things were the pinnacle of Judaism. I always felt that it was wonderful to be a woman and not have to have a minyan to optimally  fulfill the mitzvah of davening.
       I wouldn't say think that everything in Judaism is totally fair for women but for me these are non-issues . Which turns out to be a good thing. I have a few less things to be annoyed about.

Better Left to the Imagination

     Though I admire some people for their talents I would prefer not to meet them in person. Often those one looks up to do not measure up to one's admiration. They may be talented in some areas but they are still flawed mortals. This is not limited to the media. Long ago I met a rabbi who wrote books that I had really enjoyed at the time. When I met him I realized that he was a mere human. I suppose on the one hand that was good . One can be a mere human but aspire to much. At the time it just disappointed me. It should not have detracted from the greatness of his works, but it had. I would have preferred to have met him at a book event or a somewhere else where he was speaking so I could have just seen the smoke and mirrors and not seen the shlemiel he really was. Some things are better left to the imagination.

who cares?

all this talk about sara hurwitz the orthodox woman rabba, rabbi, maharat ... and all i just keep thinking who cares? i guess im just apathetic . im not sure why anyone male or female would want to be a pulpit rabbi to begin with. maybe its just that i would never want to be one.

i never gave much thought to the ban on orthodox women rabbis. i guess the maharat or rabbi/rabba thing is more like a degree, much like a masters degree or phd. so to me this isn't the problem. the big problem is sara hurwitz having a larger role in orthodox jewish communal life. in the fifties or in biblical times woman were just in the kitchen so the concept of a woman being a rabbi would be preposterous. in the 2000's women, even orthodox women have prestigious jobs and are leaders in the secular world so they would like to use these talents in the jewish world. beyond apathy the jury of my mind is still in deliberations as to what i really think of the concept of orthodox jewish women as rabbis.

women in general are more spiritual than men which is why men have more mitzvot. they need it to keep them in line. maybe this is why only men are supposed to be rabbis. it keeps them busy, make them feel important and keeps them frum.

though american jewish women have fought to have a bigger role in jewish communal life i think that the joke is on women. in american jewish folklore one always hears about the jewish mother. she may have the stereotype of being overbearing, but she is the one who seems to hold the family together as well as the one who has kept american jews jewish. does anyone ever hear about the jewish father? i know that i don't. in fact all i hear about jewish men is how non-jewish women like to hold out nets for them because they are known not to be wife beaters. i never hear about how they have held together the jewish family. then again maybe this is why an orthodox jewish woman would like to be a rabbbi or hold a more communal role. the jewish woman has been holding together jewish life for decades . she now just wants to make a more public role of it.

cant say that i would want to have that limelight, but i suppose i understand it.