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July 17, 1992 - Image 29

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 1992-07-17

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stein, a senior at HUC and presi-
dent of its student body. "My peers,
we're a different kind of generation
in the rabbinate. We're much more
personal, more nurturing, more let
down your hair."
With the influx of women into
the profession, the issue of family
life, so central to Judaism and so
long ignored within the rabbinate,
has come to the forefront. "Hiring
'obi Susan Grossman, of Congregation Genesis Agudas
women has forced congregations
aim in Tuckahoe, N.Y.: "Having women in the rabbinate
to re-evaluate the role of the rab-
Is many male colleagues to be more vocal about family

bi's family," notes Harvard's Rab-
ties.
bi Finestone.
a., to pray on their own," he says.
"It used to be that when they got a
"The image of the rabbi and how one rabbi, they also got his wife," Rabbi
ceracts with a rabbi [has changed]" as
Finestone says. Now most husbands
of having women rabbis, says have a professional life of their own and
arvard's Rabbi Sally Finestone. Wom- congregations cannot take the rabbi's
'`have made the rabbi a more acces-
spouse for granted. "So now, the de-
1-0 - figure...They have removed some
mands on a rabbi's wife have gotten
the obstacles that separated the rab- more realistic, more healthy," adds Rab-
from his congregation."
bi Finestone, and a male rabbi can now
And this new image has benefited express his own desire to spend more
In men and women, Rabbi Finestone time with his family.
`id many of her colleagues note.
It is more often than not a woman rab-
"Having women in the rabbinate frees bi who focuses the congregation's at-
ia.ciy of our male colleagues to be more tention on the difficulties of juggling
,cal about family issues, about spiri- work and family. In many communi-
,ality in the synagogue," says Rabbi ties, it is now the rabbi who initiates a
, 9an Grossman of Congregation Gen-
day care program at the synagogue, of-
1 Agudas Achim, a Conservative syn- ten meeting a need felt by many work-
;ogue in Tuckahoe, N.Y. "Women have ing couples in the area.
1 ) role models, which is bad, but it also
Rabbi Grossman, of Congregation
- up the rabbinate in general. And
ees
Genesis Agudas Achim, who was preg-
:lowed men who were concerned with nant when she was hired straight out of
Arituality to come out of the closet," rabbinical school in 1989, introduced
i-ys Rabbi Grossman.
several children-oriented programs at
her synagogue: a storytelling hour, a
winter park, and a kids' service on Sat-
Rabbi Cardin, who graduated from urday mornings.
"These might be seen as things that
7s in 1988, notes that among her
.ers, male and female, there has been I do as a woman, but really any rabbi
'hat she calls "a radical shift" away would do this who's interested in fami-
nom the authoritarian, omnipotent lies and in attracting more families to
odel of a rabbi. Today's rabbis hold the synagogue," says Rabbi Grossman.
study sessions on Sabbath morn-
igs rather than deliver sermons; they
Congregants notice the effects of hav-
ander through the congregation rather
_ri stand at a podium; they encourage ing a woman rabbi, especially when it
comes to children. "I think the great-
► gregants to lead services and discuss
le weekly portion. "What it means is est impact is on kids, especially for ado-
tat I, as rabbi, am empowering you to lescent girls, who now see women role
?,cide what the Torah means to you. I models," says Annette Koch, a mem-
empowering you to learn, to per- ber of the Reform Temple of Suffern in
Suffern, New York, whose spiritual lead-
malize," says Rabbi Cardin.
In the old days, the rabbi was a much er is Rabbi Elyse Frishman.
Women congregants, many of whom
lore distant, much more authoritative
gure. He was revered," says Paula Feld- are working professionals, see an ally in

tadical Shift

Role Models

a woman rabbi. "I'm an attorney. I'm out
there. I'm used to fighting being invisi-
ble. It's easier to do that with [Rabbi
Frishman] at the helm," says Ms.Koch.
She notes that more women attend syn-
agogue more regularly since Rabbi
Frishman arrived in 1981. "They feel
more included. It's not an exclusive
men's club anymore," she says.
The effects of a woman rabbi are not
lost on men, either. "To me, a rabbi was
67 years old and had a beard," says Miles
Alter, president of Rabbi Frishman's
synagogue. "But her warmth and charis-
ma won me over immediately...Her talk
is not a [sermon], but a dialogue. It's a
give and take. There's no bimah (stage).
She wants to be accessible," says Mr. Al-
ter.
Donald Fleishaker, ritual chairman
at Rabbi Grossman's synagogue, admits
he was initially opposed to hiring a worn-
an rabbi. But Rabbi Grossman, who
graduated at the top of her JTS class,
was clearly the best candidate. "Other
than the fact she was a woman,
she was terrific," says Mr.
Fleishaker wryly. "[But] I felt it
wasn't the right time to be an ex-
perimental synagogue. I didn't
think we were ready for a wom-
an. I had nothing against her per
se."
By the end of Rabbi Grossman's
first year, Mr. Fleishaker says he
became "her most ardent support-
er," though, like Mr. Alter, he feels
committed only to his own rabbi.
When asked if he would hire an-
other woman rabbi in the future,
Mr. Fleishaker responds that he
"would not say no."
And perhaps - despite all the
passion about women rabbis - that
is ultimately the way many wom-
en would want it. "A sign of suc-
cess for me is when I'm no longer
called to speak about being a worn-
an rabbi," says Rabbi Finestone at
Harvard, "I can speak about me-
dieval Jewish philosophy, or the
campus. I'm no longer a novelty."
Shira Leibowitz, a JTS student,
agrees. "You get tired of always
confronting these issues. You get
tired of always being a female rab-
binical student," she says. "I just
want to be seen as a student, a Rabbi Nina Cardin, director of research at the Jewish The-
serious student, who wants to be ological Seminary. The new style of sermon means that
"I am empowering you to learn, to personalize."
a rabbi." ❑

Women
congregants,
many of
whom are
working
professionals,
see an ally in
a woman
rabbi.

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

29

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