199
See also: God’s covenant with Israel 168–75 ■ Writing the Oral law 182–83
■ Progressive Judaism 190–95P
aradoxically, while Jewish
identity is traditionally
transmitted matrilineally
(p.175), women have been excluded
from participation in the observance
of Judaism for much of its history.
Until the 19th century, the idea
of women reading from the Torah
to a congregation, for example,
or leading prayer as a cantor was
considered heretical; the notion of
a female rabbi was unthinkable.
However, with the foundation
of liberal Reform Judaism, and
especially in the progressive
Reconstructionist movement,
the subject of women’s role in the
covenant became an issue of
increasing importance. The first
woman rabbi was ordained in the
Reform movement in Germany in- In the US, the UK, and
elsewhere in Europe, real pressure
for change came with the rise of
feminism in the 1970s. The Reform
movement in the US ordained
its first woman rabbi in 1972, and
three years later a female cantor.
Following this lead, other branches
of Judaism began to initiate reforms,
allowing women to participate
in rituals and as witnesses, and
bringing in bat mitzvah ceremonies
(the female equivalent of the bar
mitzvah). Women were finally
admitted into rabbinical schools in
the 1980s. Today, only Orthodox
Judaism still holds out against the
ordination of women rabbis, but in
all branches of the faith, women are
taking an increasingly active, if not
leading, role in the synagogue. ■JUDAISM
WOMEN CAN
BE RABBIS
GENDER AND THE COVENANT
The festival of Hanukkah is
celebrated here by Barbara Aiello, the
first female rabbi in Italy. Granting girls
equal access to religious education has
transformed their role in Judaism.IN CONTEXT
KEY MOVEMENT
Feminism in Judaism
WHEN AND WHERE
Late 20th century,
US and Europe
BEFORE
19th century The Reform
movement emerges in
Judaism, and with it the
question of women taking
a fuller role in the covenant.
1893 The National Council
of Jewish Women is founded
after the World Parliament
of Religions in Chicago.
1912 The Women’s Zionist
Organization of America,
Hadassah, is founded.
1922 The idea of ordaining
women rabbis is discussed at
the Central Conference of
American Rabbis, but no
agreement is reached.
1935 The first woman rabbi,
Regina Jonas, is ordained in
Berlin, Germany.