The Knesset Bill to Increase the Number of Women that Elect the Chief Rabbis Is Important for Jewish Women

May 25, 2013

On Monday, May 23, Haaretz reported that the so-called "Stern Law," which will increase the size of the body electing the Chief Rabbis of Israel (there are two Chief Rabbis, one Ashkenazi and one Sephardic) from 150 to 200, and among the 50 additional seats will be a significant number of women. The current body is largely composed of rabbis, all of whom are male. (In the US, Reform Judaism permits women rabbis, but in Israel the influence of Reform Judaism is very restricted.) 

Bringing more women’s voices and influence into the selection of Israel's religious leadership  is certainly a significant step forward towards gender balance, and gender balance should be a serious issue for Jews in Israel.  

Women in religious families are being denied an education.  Religious authorities restrict women from praying at the Western Wall in the manner they choose, and women who dare to don tallit and pray aloud in song are still being arrested by the police and taunted and spit upon by Jewish men.  

These sorts of attitudes among the religious  could only exist because Judaism and its traditions have been guided only by faith in  God as interpreted by His male representatives. Few of them are equipped to have the heart or spirit to understand the Shekinah, Heavenly Mother, and Her frustration over this situation.

Women should rejoice that the Knesset is moving forward to adopt a bill to give women a greater voice. And yet, the increased represen-tation of women on a body that still will elect a male rabbi is only a very, very small step, when so much more is needed. 

This is good news. But what does the media do with the story? One example is an article in Haaretz, "Knesset passes bill increasing number of women that elect Israel's chief rabbis" (May 23), which deals only with the political drama, the infighting within Naftali Bennett’s party and the behind-the-scenes politicking for who will be elected Chief Rabbi, saying not a whit about women’s concerns—even though these concerns, notably the issues of prayer at the Western Wall, discrimination in education and public transportation are widely known to the Israeli public. 

The spin of this story, as well as similar articles in other newspapers, is unconscionable. The media should be trumpeting this advance for women in a society that needs still more, not ignoring it. It only illustrates how distant the culture in Israel is from truly comprehending the situation of women--and of God, who is the Mother as well as the Father of us all.

Judaism is in sore need of reforms to make it a religion that honors God’s daughters as equal to God's sons in every respect, including roles in communal leadership. These reforms will not come easily, and some may require 100 years or more. But it is time to make a start.