Three Female Rabbis Embrace an Openness Towards Difference

Photo by creap

I set up Google Alerts to notify me when anyone uses the term open to difference, and I quickly found it in the title of an article at Harvard Magazine called, “Open to Difference - Three alumnae rabbis help redefine an ancient calling.”

This article explores how female rabbis, who would have been banned from the rabbinate just a few generations ago, are pressing forward. Today, nearly one-third of the rabbis working in the United States are female.

Though the stories of Toba Spitzer, Jennifer (Kirsch) Flatté, and Julia Andelman differ, they have changed the rabbinate and Judaism in significant ways, challenging norms that were held onto for centuries. For example, these and other female rabbis have introduced and legitimized new prayers and blessings for particularly female life-events. Even more controversial is that Rabbi Andelman, who feels strongly about the detrimental impact of hierarchy, stands at the same level as her congregation when she leads services rather than on a raised platform looking down on them.

Some congregants have had a difficult time accepting female rabbis, leaving their place of worship in response. Others have embraced the different perspectives and new ways of thinking that female rabbis bring to their congregation.

Many years ago when I attended temple regularly, I didn’t think twice when a female rabbi in training stood before us during Friday night services. Though provocative today, few will likely think twice about female and male rabbis standing side by side in years to come.