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| The ordained Orthodox Jewish women |
In a historic event held this week, several Orthodox Jewish women were ordained as Orthodox Jewish rabbis for the first time.
Sunday saw the graduation of the first class of Orthodox Jewish women ordained as clergy.
The graduation was held at the Ramaz School on East 78th Street in Manhattan.
Yeshivat Maharat is the first institution to train Orthodox Jewish women as spiritual leaders. All women have followed the same course of training as their male counterparts, and have studied the Torah at same advanced level as men for the past several years.
Maharat is a Hebrew acronym for Manhiga Hilkhatit Rukhanit Toranit, meaning one who teaches Jewish law and spirituality.
The new graduates are now full spiritual, legal, and communal authorities in the Orthodox community.
Meanwhile over in Israel, Orthodox Jewish women have also advanced in the rabbinical authority. As we reported earlier, at least four women will now sit on the committee of 11, which appoints Israel’s rabbinical court judges, according to a new law passed by the Knesset.
The Knesset approved the law this week, which requires that four of the 11 members of the committee that selects rabbinical court judges, are women.
Four members of the committee will be government representatives, two ministers and two Knesset members. Another two will be representatives of the Israel Bar Association. The law now requires that these "pairs" consist of one man and one woman each, ensuring three women on the committee.
In addition, the committee, which currently has ten members, will be expanded to 11. The eleventh representative will be a female lawyer representing clients in rabbinical courts, who will be appointed by the Minister of Justice.
As was expected, all ultra-Orthodox Jewish members of the Knesset were against the law. The law passed, as the ruling coalition in the Knesset does not include any of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish Knesset members.
In Israel, the rabbinical courts preside over the divorce of Jewish couples. However, the rabbinical court system competes with the family courts, founded in the 1990s, in matters of child support.