{"id":97885,"date":"2016-04-06T00:25:10","date_gmt":"2016-04-06T04:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aleteia.org\/?post_type=post&p=97885"},"modified":"2016-04-06T00:25:10","modified_gmt":"2016-04-06T04:25:10","slug":"who-knew-meet-the-worlds-first-female-orthodox-jewish-rabbi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2016\/04\/who-knew-meet-the-worlds-first-female-orthodox-jewish-rabbi\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Knew? Meet the World’s First Female Orthodox Jewish Rabbi"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

And just in time for Passover.<\/p>\n

From CNN:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Ten young children sit around a table as Lila Kagedan walks into their synagogue\u2019s after-school program. Paper plates filled with art supplies are waiting for them to tear into.<\/p>\n

Kagedan introduces herself as the new rabbi at their synagogue. Not one of the elementary-school-aged children seems surprised.<\/p>\n

But her announcement is surprising \u2014 historic, even: Kagedan, of Mount Freedom Jewish Center, is the first woman to have the title of rabbi serving an Orthodox congregation.<\/p>\n

It is a job she has dreamed of holding since she was a little girl, but rabbinical school did not exist for women in the Orthodox movement for most of her life.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowing up the only model of rabbi in the Orthodox world were men,\u201d Kagedan says. \u201cSo in some ways this really didn\u2019t feel like an option.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rabbi Lila Kagedan says she \u201cwanted my title to be the most accurate description of my training.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2026There have been Orthodox Jewish women before her who took the title \u201crabba,\u201d but Kagedan was firm in wanting to be called Rabbi Kagedan.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew that I wanted my title to be the most accurate description of my training,\u201d Kagedan says. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to walk into a room or a space and have there be any ambiguity of what it is that I was there to do. What my training was. What my skill set was.\u201d<\/p>\n

The idea of a female rabbi is not accepted by everyone in Orthodox Judaism. The Rabbinical Council of America (RCA), an organization made up of Orthodox rabbis, passed a resolution in October 2015 in response to Kagedan\u2019s school, Yeshivat Maharat, ordaining women as rabbis, calling it \u201ca violation of our mesorah [tradition]\u201d and saying the school\u2019s decision to do so was \u201ca path that contradicts the norms of our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked about Kagedan\u2019s new position, Rabbi Mark Dratch, the RCA\u2019s executive vice president, said the organization \u201cencourages a diversity of [sanctioned] and communally appropriate opportunities for learned, committed women,\u201d but it does not accept the ordination or recognition of women as Orthodox rabbis.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read more and watch the video here.<\/a><\/strong><\/div>\n

Photo: Times of Israel<\/small><\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

And just in time for Passover. From CNN:\u00a0 Ten young children sit around a table as Lila Kagedan walks into their synagogue\u2019s after-school program. Paper plates filled with art supplies are waiting for them to tear into. Kagedan introduces herself as the new rabbi at their synagogue. Not one of the elementary-school-aged children seems surprised. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":97886,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWho Knew? Meet the World's First Female Orthodox Jewish Rabbi<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"And just in time for Passover. From CNN:\u00a0 Ten young children sit around a table as Lila Kagedan walks into their synagogue's after-school program. 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