Restating the case for women orthodox rabbis

Professor Geoffrey Alderman's momentous op-ed piece in last Friday's Jewish Chronicle (JC) seems either to have slipped under the radar or to have been brushed under the rug.

Some bona fides for those unfamiliar with Alderman and the JC:

• Professor Geoffrey Alderman is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Royal Society of Arts. He recently received an honorary second doctorate from Oxford University for his work on Anglo-Jewish history, which includes his Modern British Jewry, the first such comprehensive rejection of top-down community apologetics. He is a strictly observant Orthodox Jew.
• The JC is the oldest continuously published Jewish newspaper in the world (since 1841) and, perhaps more importantly, the unofficial mouthpiece of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Orthodox United Synagogue, Britain's largest Jewish denomination and Europe's largest synagogual organization.

In Women rabbis? Why ever not? Alderman goes beyond endorsing Rabbi Avraham Weiss' decision to train and ordain women rabbis, to actively encouraging the practice, even noting that today's "Orthodox prohibition on women holding positions of authority derives [not from within Tradition but] from a purely Maimonidean view, and that even while he lived Maimonides was widely regarded as a heretic." (Maimonides, of course, borrows many of his positions from outside Tradition; from the decidedly non-Jewish Aristotle, in whose scheme women are less than human.)

I've spoken at length with Professor Alderman and know his diverse work well, so his response doesn't shock me in-and-of-itself. I'm glad, however, that he's gone public with it in the JC at a time when Modern Orthodoxy is struggling to prove its moniker meaningful.

Now read Women rabbis? Why ever not? for yourself.

Living Room Minyan

On Saturday evening, June, 20, the peripatetic Living Room Minyan (LRM), which comprises, in most part, 30s and 40s something couples and their children, stepped into our house for a Havdalah prayer service and pot luck.

We attended our first LRM Havdalah just three weeks ago in a nearby south Austin home and enjoyed it so much we volunteered to host. Kati takes the organizational lead on all social matters—that way, we actually have social matters!—but from what I've gathered, the group is organized by evite and tries to meet somewhere in Austin, TX at least once a month for Friday night or Havdalah services. (Once each per month would be really nice.)

Some random observations:

• Between the three or four families that seem to form LRM's core—all of whom are members of Conservative Congregation Agudas Achim—the five or six that are also long-term participants, and the five or six newbies we added to the mix, there were approximately 50 attendees—roughly 28 adults and 22 kids.
• The attendees were born on at least four continents and represent a broad spectrum of Jewish socio-economic groups.
• At least two thirds of those present live in southwest, south, and east Austin, rather than the Jewish community's "traditional" heartland of north central and northwest Austin.
• Judging by the noise level, mingling, empty bottle count, and comments, the adults had fun: judging by the relative harmony and the time it took us to hose down the patios, tidy the yard and playroom, and touch up a few paint chips, the young ones had a scream. (Building fun memories of Jewish gatherings is essential to their future as Jews and to our survival as a religious community.)

With concerted effort, we newbies could help the LRM in its efforts to continue personalizing the somewhat less than close-knit Austin Jewish community. (That is, if that's what LRM wants to do.)

Most importantly for right now, however, having about 50 friendly, open people share Havdalah in our home was wonderfully moving—the perfect way to start a new week. Thanks everyone for coming.

Shavua Tov. Have a great week.