New York – Rabbi Avi Weiss has conferred “semikha” upon a woman, has made her an Assistant Rabbi at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale where she carries out certain traditional rabbinical functions, and has now given her the title of “Rabbah” (formerly “Maharat”). He has stated that the change in title is designed to “make it clear that Sara Hurwitz is a full member of our rabbinic staff, a rabbi with the additional quality of a distinct woman’s voice.”
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These developments represent a radical and dangerous departure from Jewish tradition and the mesoras haTorah, and must be condemned in the strongest terms. Any congregation with a woman in a rabbinical position of any sort cannot be considered Orthodox.
Rabbi Simcha Bunim Ehrenfeld
Rabbi Yitzchok Feigelstock
Rabbi Dovid Feinstein
Rabbi Aharon Feldman
Rabbi Yosef Harari-Raful
Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky
Rabbi Aryeh Malkiel Kotler
Rabbi Avrohom Chaim Levin
Rabbi Yaakov Perlow
Rabbi Aaron Schechter
Moetzes Gedolei Hatorah Of America is begining to sound and act like Obama (lehavdil) Condemn, threaten, scream and holler then DO NOTHING!!
Avi Weiss should be in cherem
way to go…. its time to be more vocal… he ain’t no orthodox rabbi; we might give “him” the title of rabba tho
Weiss has always been consistent in his own inconsistencies; except for one area of his life. His ego is never subject to change. I knew his dad….more of the same.
Yes, way to go.
wow, amazing what gets these people excited. why didn they condemn TROPPER? Kolko? Margulies? Rubashkin?
The ax has fallen .,about time.
Will the Pastor be x-communicated ?
baruch hashem the gedolim make a public takanah about this.
why doent they come out against smoking which kills
Women should be home builg a bais neeman b’yisroel. Why can’t they be like their grandmothers?
It’s time to reveal the root of this shanda, In YU many girls learn gemora and poskim like the men etc The MO leadership has to reject feminisem as it has no place in judiasem if they don’t the real orthadoxy will reject them just like we rejected the reform conservativ and the weiss movements..
the moetzes doesn’t waste a minute in condemning something which is not technically assur, has a basis in halacha, and most importantly has nothing to do with any agudah-related kehilla.
yet the moetzes has been silent for YEARS regarding many of the most devastating issues in our community, not the least of which are the molestors and abusers in our yeshivos, mosdos, shuls, community, etc.
THESE ARE “GEDOLIM”??
read the beginning of medrash rabbah on megillas Rus, on the pasuk “vayehi b’ymei shfot hashoftim, va’yhi ra’av baaretz…” (“it was in the days that the judges judged, and there was a famine in the land…”). the medrash says: “WOE TO A GENERATION WHO’S LEADERS DESERVED TO BE JUDGED…”
rabbosai: this is our generation.
This same language was used by many Rabonim when the the Litvishe started a new Derech Halimud.
Some of these Rabonim even used this same wording, when relating to some co-signers, who pick and choose the Bochurum they will accept, to only accept the smartest boys into their Yeshiva, and ignore the regular Bochurum.
The same language was used against the Baal Hatania, by great Tzadikim.
I think,the She-Rabbi should gracefully resign,in order to prevent sinas -chinom in the orthodox community.
Instead of worrying about heads of large Bais Yaakov’s being arrested for extortion, and teenage drinking on Purim, and issues affecting the klal, where I have yet to see a full Kol Koreh from the moetzes, they feel a need to condemn Rabbi Weiss for something he is going in his shul , whether right or wrong, how does this affect the klal, and more so the klal the moetzes represents?
“These developments represent a radical and dangerous departure from Jewish tradition and the mesoras haTorah, and must be condemned in the strongest terms.”
Business ethics are not a radical and dangerous departure from our traditions? There are no other problems they can deal with other than a Rabbi, with a very small following, elevating a woman to a position of prominence in his shul and giving her a silly name?
It is truly sad that the Moetzes thinks that this is the greatest danger facing us. But I guess when the stolen money is going to support the communal organizations, stopping the stealing will lead to a systemic breakdown. Let the frum crime wave continue.
To mrs k umm I’m not sure what planet u live on but rabbonim have come out ageinst smoking many a time and in most yeshivas u can get chuckt for smoking this year for the first time reb shmuale kamentsky even came out ageinst drinking on Purim tradition nor the halacha dident seem to bother him than even though I agree on that one
R’ Hillel introduces prozbul. Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah responds: “These developments represent a radical and dangerous departure from Jewish tradition and the mesoras haTorah, and must be condemned in the strongest terms.”
Rabbeinu Gershom issues a ruling prohibiting polygamy. Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah responds: “These developments represent a radical and dangerous departure from Jewish tradition and the mesoras haTorah, and must be condemned in the strongest terms.”
R’ Moshe ben Maimon writes his Guide for the Perplexed. Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah responds: “These developments represent a radical and dangerous departure from Jewish tradition and the mesoras haTorah, and must be condemned in the strongest terms.”
The fact that something is new or has not been done before is not evidence that it is bad or wrong. Sometimes, these rabbis are so wedded to how things used to be, that one wonders if they even change their socks.
Kinda gives you a sense of what it was like to be in the time of Zechariah Frankel and the maskilim. A Weiss has tested how far he can push the envelope and now both the Agudah and (it seems) the CRC are saying “too far”
Now will the Yeshiva that gave him semicha speak out. We all know that Rav Schachter, Willig, Twersky, Rosensweig, tendler, Kahn etc. agree with the Moetzes on this. So JUST SAY SOMETHING!!! The silence is deafening, and hurts “centrist orthodoxy”.
Why is this so bad. He didnt say she could pasken on gittin.,or be a mesader kiddushin, he didnt say she is kosher liaydus.She also is not the chazan(fot the men)or a baal koreh.Maybe she works really hard and he gave her an honorary title to show his thanks.I think ther are a lot of trouble makers in the community( so called askanom)Who probably ran to the gedolim with a whole bubbeh maaseh . Please read between the lines.
#3 You should be ashamed of yourself and your comment borders on the Rambam who writes כל המבזה ת”ח אין לו חלק לעולם הבא If I was you, I’d be very concerned.
You’re all bleating like blind unthinking sheep…I hope the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah took into account all of the good that he does before they issued their statement.
R’ Weiss definitely has a history of unconventional and out-of-the-box activities. However, I would suggest you take a trip to his shul in Riverdale and see first hand the warmth, d’veykus and pure avodas Hashem and ahavas Yisrael that envelops his kehillah on a weekly basis.
His congregation – men and women alike – have a sincere desire to serve Hashem through t’fillah and avodah. What R’ Weiss is doing is creating a way -albeit non-conventional – for the modern orthodox woman to feel more connected to davening, Torah and halacha. The idea is not for Ms. Hurwitz to pasken halacha for men and families, but rather to be an accessible conduit for women to speak comfortably with someone who knows halacha and has a framework of yedios in Torah and halacha.
I’m not a Rabbi or a talmid chacham by any stretch, but my pintele yid tells me that achdus and tolerance for our brothbrothers and sisters will surely bring the geulah sooner than misguided kanaus.
Devorah Haneviah, Chulda, etc…Historically there have always been frum leaders that were female. Why doesn’t someone investigate who this woman is? I’m interested to know what kind of services she performs, her hashkofos, etc…Why run to condemn anyone before the facts are known?
Now that we got Rabbah, where is Abaye? 🙂
Refua shleima to Avi Weiss – though I don’t know if it’s possible.
Hebrew Institute of Riverdale should be renamed Hebrew Circus of Riverdale.
Nobody prevents Sara Hurwitz from serving Hashem, but why does she need the title? I smell baalas gaiva 🙂
Does the police car running stop lights without an emergency help a red light camera ticket (G-d forbid)?
Pointing fingers back at the haredi community doesn’t negate the need to censure a rabbi gone rogue.
It is not necessary for the Gedolim to take a stand agaisnt something that EVERYONE knows is not al pi torah cf. molesters, stealing, etc. They do make a statement (in my opinion) when there are numerous members of the klal who don’t realize themselves why this is an issue. Let women be all they can be, No?
I believe the answer is that halacha has no problem with women being all they can be (and men being all they can be as well). What is a problem is when men try to become women, women try to become men, adults try to become children, and humans try to become animals. Each human and each gender has a purpose. Just because the poisonous ideals of the goyim have leaked into the yiddishe teivah doesn’t mean that it makes sense. Women have a different role than men, which does NOT mean they are less or unequal. The opposite is true, they are on a higher spiritual plane so they need less physical mitzvos and are entrusted with the future of klal yisroel – raising our holy children. When some purported rabbi attempts to confuse yiddishkeit with a political movement (feminism), the Gedolim want to help the klal from being swept up in the confusion.
Lets stop screaming “oh, this they speak up about, but not Kolko, Tropper etc..” It’s very simple, you just need to have some Seichel.
As the Gedolim of our generation, they don’t need to condemn someone that does something that is blatantly wrong i.e. a Mechallel Shabbos (not that I am making any comparison to Child Molestors other than they are both obviously outside the Pale of Orthodoxy. Granted one is Heinous and Despicable, but they are both obviously Wrongs)
What the Gedolim do have to concern themselves with is our Mesorah and keeping the Doros going. Things that confuse people and may mislead people. Know one needs R’ Aron Schechter to get up and scream that Kolko is a RASHA. We all know that. We do need him to clarify things that some of us may not know.
That is why they choose to respond to Avi Weiss and not to the the Miyusdika people.
Simcha, don’t change the subject. pls.
what’s wrong with being called rebetzin?
The Agudah is not looking to condemn and bash people left and right (as opposed to many of the commenters on this site, who dislike anyone with a beard). Banning child molesters is pointless; we all know what to think of such people. And with all of that, there is not a fear that the “hamon am” will be influenced by them, and think, “Hey, you know what? Maybe these child molesters have a point after all, let’s follow them.” Weiss, however, is a legitimate (interesting word, actually) threat to our Mesorah, and there is a danger that people will follow – hence the condemnations.
Oh, and by the way #34 – technically once we have Rabbah, it would be R’ Yosef. Abaye goes with Rava – remember, “yiHEI shmei RABBAH”.
A freilichin Purim!
When there were issues with Russian Jews, when prisoners were taken, when the Church took over Auschwitz – it was Rabbi Avi Weiss who was there and was arrested – where were all of you? He is unmatched in ahavas yisroel.
Cute, but the influence of Agudah in the left wing MO world is close to zero. I want to hear a clear statement from the RCA!
This is absurd. Yes, no one need to tell us that Chilul Shabbas is wrong. But if there was rampant Chilul Shabbas in our yeshivas with Rabbonim enabling the Michallai Shabbas to continue and attacking all those who try to fix the problem, don’t you think it would be worthy of condemnation by the Gedolim?
Weiss wants his name in the paper. Like anyone else who is in love with the public spotlight he know that there is no such thing as bad publicity.
He certainly will find moneyed supporters among a growing wing of the MO.
Gay rabbis next
R. Avi Weiss is a Chassidishe Yid. His father was a Bobover chussid in der heim far di milchomo.
He has Chassidishe Rabbonim teaching at YCT, such as R. Katz and R. Rapoport, a Lubavitcher Rav from England.
With all due respect to the signatories of this letter, I firmly believe that a generation from now, Rav Weiss and Raba Hurwitz will be regarded as the real “gadolim” of our generation for taking such a bold and principled position to empower yiddeshe women whil many of these self descirbed “gadolei torah” will have been forgetten. Change comes slowly but in this case, they have opened the door to a wave of change which will overwhelm any of those who seek to continue to surbordinate women or their equals or greater in their daas torah and yiras shamayim.
Yasher Koach to the Gedolim for speaking out for our mesorah. Where are the YU Roshei Yeshiva on this? What about the RCA? Is the RCA compromised because of fringe rabbi’s like Avi Weiss and Yitz Greenberg in their membership or do they support Weiss’ actions?
Also, contrary to the line of some bloggers, activism and good deeds don’t justify going against halachic rulings-there are Jewish and non-Jewish activists and one doesn’t excuse the other.Such thinking is used in the Conservative and Reform movements to justify their abandonment of Torah.
#54 makes a very valid point. In addition when the agudah fails to speak out against molesters and other rabbinic criminals their silence threatens the mesorah in an even greater way. The mesorah is based on the implicit trust of our rabbis and leaders. Without trust there is no mesora. The agudah’s failure to protest is actually destroying trust in rabbonim and threatening the very basis of what our mesorah is built on yet the moetzes can proudly boast that by standing up to avi weiss they are protecting the mesora. This is sheer hypocrisy. By the way I do believe that what avi weiss has done threatens the mesorah. However the disintegration of rabbinic trust has far greater ramifications. .
Theמועצת גדולי התורה is a self-appointed group of roshei yeshiva and other mosdos who have several respected rabbonim among their leadership but also includes some second and third tier rabbonim who are not the equal of Rav Weiss in terms of lamdus and leadership. They are entitled to their views as much as we are entitled to ignore them.
R’ Avi Weiss. The great Innovator.Hopefully, he will ,soon, perpetrate another evil innovation on his flock. Steve Jobs; move over.
The modern orthodox movement is more dangerous than the reform and conservative combined. They sneak in all types of political correct agendas.Besides women rabbas they are slowly allowing homosexuals to be legitimized. This is far worse than the lady rabbas. They already have a few homosexual rabbis and at their jewish orthodox feminist alliance conference last year had a workshop for homosexuals.
Shvache gedoilim. This is todays moetzess?? Oy! We need a y’shua
Why is everyone up in arms,about this new phenomenon. Worst case scenario; This Riverdale Congregation ,will eventually transform itself into Reform Temple. B”B.
Raboisai, this is truly something meaningfull from the gedoylei yisroel!! It is high time we focused on important things like this that have REAL meaning to klal yisroel, rather than things like child abuse and financial scandals in the frum community. Finally our gedoylim have shown us how to get our priorities straight!
MGH,Condemn R’ Avi Weiss.Definition of CONDEMN ,Quote ; To confer some sort of eternal divine punishment upon …..
why cant we have a feemale rav ofr woman issues…???
I make gedoilim like on the moetzes every day.
I’m not a fan of these trends but Rabbi Weiss has always been known to be a sincere and ehrlich person who is sucha true Oheiv Yisroel that he’s gotten arrested for it on various occassions.
Normally people who run with Leftist fads (or ANY fads) disgust me but based on Rabbi Weiss’s history I’m going to be more than happy to give him the benefot of the doubt and say that he sincerely believes that this is the right thing to do and isn’t looking to be mechaneif anyone. Again, I disagree with him, but I have enough Hakaras Hatoiv to be quiet about it.