7:23pm Monday 8th March 2010
By Barry Hyman
Anne Peat's article on this page about the Women's Day of Prayer rang bells with me.
The first woman rabbi of the modern world was Regina Jonas, ordained in Germany by Rabbi Leo Baeck in the mid 30s and lost to us in the Holocaust. Baeck survived and came to Britain.
The first British woman rabbi, Jacqueline Tabick, who still occupies a pulpit, was ordained at the Leo Baeck College, the seminary for progressive rabbi in Finchley. She was to be followed by many others.
My synagogue appointed its first woman rabbi in the mid 80s and I was proud to be part of the appointments commitee, not least when she officiated at the Batmitzvah of my daughter, alongside her twin brother celebrating his Barmitzvah. This of course would not have been possible - indeed is still not- in any orthodox synagogue where women cannot aspire to such a role. I guess the parallel with the position of Catholicism and Protestantism is obvious.
When discussing the appointment of our first woman rabbi - we were to have another after her- there was diffidence if not outright opposition from members, including some women, who oddly were fully emancipated in admin roles in the community but wary of a woman ministering to their spiritual needs.
Twenty five years on woman rabbis are no longer an anachronism. Indeed a whole generation of youngsters in our community, growing up under two successive woman rabbis, did not know - to quote the old joke - that the rabbinate might be a job for a nice Jewish boy!
Even our prayers now say 'Ancestors' rather than 'Godfathers' and we pray to the 'God of Abraham AND Sarah.'
In Israel a group of women, determined to break the hold of the ultra-orthodox minority, have been praying at the Western Wall wearing prayer shawls and head covering, a tradition not forbidden to women, but observed predominantly by men. They have been subject to verbal and physical abuse by a militant, mediaeval minority. This is a disgrace, but they bravely persist.
Women's rights are not the preserve of a feisty feminist few to fight for. They are to be defended by all of us. If we are made in God's image,women deserve at least equal status in all roles of life. I'm sure God - wherever she resides - would say 'Amen' to that.
Barry Hyman Vice President Radlett & Bushey Reform Synagogue
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