A year ago, I became an Orthodox rabbi, something I never thought possible in my lifetime, and something beyond my grandmother’s wildest dreams. Being a rabbi so far has been… well my dream job really. I’ve been able to teach Torah, support people through our painful post-October 7th world, give sermons, conduct lifecycle ceremonies, answer halachic questions and grow a community – a community who seem perfectly happy that their rabbi is female.
I still have to pinch myself that I’m able to serve the Jewish world in this way, as a woman, and without having to compromise my Orthodox practices.
So, it’s emotional to be back at Yeshivat Maharat in New York for the graduation of the next cohort. Maharat is one of a small number of places around the world where Orthodox women can receive semikha. It’s a significant year, with a whopping 25 new women rabbis, a number which has grown exponentially year on year. And it’s particularly celebration-worthy because it takes the number of graduates of this institution to 100 – across 5 continents and 10 countries.
These women, who I studied alongside for the final three years of my own semikha, are phenomenal. They are learned in secular subjects alongside the halacha, Talmud and pastoral skills we’re trained in, with a number of academics among them. They are deeply inspiring teachers, pastors and leaders. They are united by their love of studying and teaching Torah.
Rabbi Miriam Lorie
And they are leaders, enhancing communities and initiatives across North America and Israel. Closer to home, one is set to be the new director of community life and learning in Helsinki, two are community building in Paris, and one is British… so watch this space.
As family and friends in Israel shelter under a barrage from Iran, it is a balm to be able to celebrate something truly positive in the Jewish world. The events in Israel were nevertheless very present during the semikha ceremony – half the new graduates are Israeli and many were stranded in the USA waiting for airspace to reopen.
“You’re entering your rabbinate at a very precarious time for the Jewish people”, said founder and Dean Rabba Sara Hurwitz, but “even in the shadow of war, we allow ourselves to name this blessing.”
A United Synagogue rabbi recently told me that while he thought my intentions were good and I was a respected leader and educator, the project of being a female Orthodox rabbi at a partnership minyan community was ultimately not legitimate because it follows a “daat yachid” – the opinion of a sole halachic decisor.
It got me thinking. First of all, at what point does a “daat yachid” become a widely accepted position? With 100 Orthodox women rabbis now ordained by Maharat, and at least another 50 with semikha from elsewhere, this is no niche movement.
It got me thinking about all the other “daat yachid” innovations in Judaism which began as controversial, community-splitting issues and became utterly mainstream; three examples are women wearing sheitels, sermons being given in the vernacular rather than Hebrew or Yiddish, and religious Zionism (yes, really).
My hope is that we’ll look back at this point in history and see a gracious shifting of the ground to integrate women more and more into orthodox services and shul leadership. I hope that rather than choosing fear, rejection, and the dividing of communities, those in power will choose integration, acceptance and respecting a “daat yachid” which increasingly proves to be the inevitable direction of travel for any contemporary community.
Our Jewish communities – even the Orthodox ones – have survived because they have adapted. How our Orthodox leadership chooses to respond to the 25 talented new rabbis given semikha this week, will be decisive. I hope they will choose to welcome the new talent, because our communities will be so much richer for it.
- Rabbi Miriam Lorie, the UK’s first Orthodox female pulpit rabbi
