S

YOU

Samantha Lee Jahr, Benjamin Eugene
Lambert, Joshua David Levinson,
Jared Daniel Monchnik, Rachel Eliana
Pernick, Kenneth James Selander, Lana
Rae Stern, Mallory Tamar Stoddard,
Jeffrey Bernard Stone, Mark Jacob
Tarnowsky, William J. Weinger and
Darren Blake Weiss.

Orthodox Roles For Women
NEW YORK (JTA) — The leading
Modern Orthodox rabbinic association
has adopted a position against ordina-
tion of women while encouraging the
creation of "halachically and commu-
nally appropriate professional oppor-
tunities" for female scholars.
The Rabbinical Council of America
adopted the resolution during a three-
day conference that began May 8 in
Scarsdale, N.Y. The resolution comes
just months after the near ordination
of a female rabbi by one of the RCA's
highest-profile members drew a sharp
rebuke from the haredi Orthodox lead-
ership of Agudath Israel of America.
The resolution cites commitment to
sacred continuity in stating that the
organization cannot accept either the
ordination of women or the recognition
of women as members of the Orthodox
rabbinate, regardless of the title. But it
stops short of sanctioning or expelling
members who violate the policy — a
move being urged by some rabbis who
were upset over the recent actions of
RCA member Rabbi Avi Weiss.
Weiss sparked outrage in January
when he conferred the title of "rabba"
— a feminized version of rabbi — on
Sara Hurwitz, a member of the cleri-
cal staff of his New York synagogue,
the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale.
Following the Agudah condemnation
and discussions with RCA officials,
Weiss said he did not intend to confer
the rabba title on anyone else, saying
Orthodox unity was of more pressing
importance.
The RCA resolution notes that
young Orthodox women are now
being reared, educated, and inspired
by mothers, teachers and mentors
who are themselves beneficiaries of
advanced women's Torah education,
and it embraces the idea of such schol-
ars assuming communal roles.
As members of the new generation
rise to positions of influence and stat-
ure, the resolution states, we pray that
they will contribute to an ever-broad-
ening and ever-deepening wellspring
of Torah study, religious commitment
and observance of mitzvot.
RCA officials say the resolution was
adopted without opposition. They

declined to outline the specific duties
that fall under the rubric of rabbi,
saying the resolution sought to set
out broad parameters while leaving a
degree of latitude to RCA members.

Israeli Conversion Bill
NEW YORK (JTA) — U.S.
Conservative, Reform and
Reconstructionist movements warn
that a proposed Israeli conversion bill
is "disastrous to the unity of the Jewish
people." Knesset members from the
Yisrael Beiteinu party were in the U.S.
trying to marshal support for a bill
that would change the conversion pro-
cess in Israel.
While the bill's proponents say it
would make it easier for the estimated
350,000 to 400,000 non-Jewish Israelis
from the Russian-speaking immigrant
community to convert to Judaism and
marry in Israel, critics say the bill
threatens to alter the Law of Return
and consolidate conversion power in
the hands of the Chief Rabbinate.
That "could have devastating effects
on the relationship between Israeli
and Diaspora Jewry," the main non-
Orthodox Jewish streams in the U.S.
said in a statement. "Such concen-
tration of powers in favor of ultra-
Orthodox Jewry effectively negates the
roles of the non-Orthodox movements
both within Israel and abroad, sending
the message that only the Orthodox
have a place within our homeland."
The statement said the legislation,
which is being promoted by Knesset
member David Rotem, would revive
the destructive debate over who is
a Jew and turn the clock back on 20
years of accomplishments in the Israeli
Supreme Court asserting the legiti-
macy of non-Orthodox movements.
"The bill mentions no alterna-
tive method of conversion via non-
Orthodox streams:' the statement
said. "We — and more importantly,
our Israeli colleagues and their law-
yers — believe that this language,
if adopted as written, would further
marginalize and hamper the Masorti
and Reform movements in Israel. This
would be a tragic consequence as we
offer vibrant religious alternatives to a
nation of Jews religiously alienated by
the increasingly extreme positions of a
minority religious establishment."
Rotem said non-Orthodox streams
in the U.S. should not be anxious about
the bill.
"I want them not to worry it's going to
harm them',' he said. "This law doesn't
deal with conversions done abroad. We
have to solve an internal Israeli problem."

Roundup on page 12

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