“Rabbi Benjamin Lau, the head of Beit Morasha and rabbi of Katamon´s Ramban Synagogue, explains that rabbis have a responsibility to include women and to respond to their demand to become more involved in the world of Halacha.”

According to Rabbi Yehuda Gilad, head of the Ma’aleh Gilboa Yeshiva: “There is no halachic problem with women sitting the exams and receiving certification that they are a rabbi. Rather it is a sociological issue. Its not like the question of the role of women in synagogue services, where there is a question of Halacha.”

Participants at Kolech’s conference on Women and Judaism took a survey about what women halachic leaders should be called. Options included rabba (female rabbi), rabbanit and maharat ("manhiga hilchatit ruchanit toranit” -- leader in Jewish religious law, spiritual matters and Torah).

Dr. Chana Kehat, the founder of Kolech, says that the organization would like to establish an institution for women’s ordination. But, she says, “This will only happen if it is what women want and if we can get funding. We need a donor who will understand the importance of such an initiative.”

Nishmat has (a) created a concept of having women experts on the laws of family purity; (b) created the rabbinic consensus to do this; (c) educated women; and (d) managed to bring the community along with us to say this is beneficial. But now the next step is to obtain the resources to get the women into leadership roles."

For the entire article

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1257417383341&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

For a related story:

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?apage=1&cid=1256150025593&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

• שבעים פנים לתורה