Orthodox Union to Enforce Ban on Women Rabbis

by R. Gil Student

Even organizations have to follow rabbinic guidance. Last week, the Orthodox Union (OU) announced it would enforce its ban on women rabbis in member synagogues.

Current member synagogues that are not in compliance have three years while all other current and new member synagogues may not have women in clergy positions.

The OU is a 120-year old synagogue organization that transformed American Orthodoxy by, among other things, making kosher food widely available, maintaining vibrant youth programs, pioneering Jewish outreach, bringing joy and accomplishment to disabled Jewish children, lobbying for Orthodox political concerns including day-school relief, and serving at the forefront of Birthright follow-up. The organization’s recent announcement follows multiple developments over the past few years.

In 2009, Rabbi Avi Weiss ordained a woman and established Yeshivat Maharat to train more women for the rabbinate. In response, the Modern Orthodox community gathered its leading Torah scholars to discuss the issue and decide whether this move was consistent with the Torah tradition as understood and accepted in the Orthodox community…

Continued in the Jerusalem Post: link