A Break with Tradition: Ordaining Women Rabbis

Abstract

In 1972 the Reform branch of Judaism ordained the first woman rabbi ever to be ordained in a rabbinical college. The Reconstructionists followed suit in 1974. In 1985 the leaders of the Conservative Movement ordained the first woman rabbi in their community. The article that follows gives a brief account of the processes of study, reflection, and debate that led these three communities to act in a manner that was contrary to the whole of Jewish tradition and to ordain women rabbis. The author also shows that although the leaders of Orthodox Judaism regard the ordination of women as an unacceptable deviation from Jewish tradition, there are those within the Orthodox fold who advocate the ordination of female rabbis in their community.