Ordination of Women 201
that the members of every tribunal or beit din in Israel , which means every rabbi, dayan, or moreh hora-a in Israel must possess the same qualities which characterized the men whom Moses selected to be his associates and whom he appointed judges and leaders in Israel . These qualities, Maimonides continues, are expressly stated in the Torah , as it is said:“Get you from each one of your tribes men, wise and understanding and full of knowledge, and I will make them heads over you”(Deut. 1:13). Maimonides here has in mind the idea, entertained by the rabbis of all generations, that the rabbis of each generation continue the activity and are the recipients of the spirit of those first religious leaders of the Jewish people. For, as is well known, Mosheh Rabbenu and the Seventy Elders who formed his Council were considered the prototypes and the models of the rabbis of all subsequent generations(comp. Mishnah , R.H. 11.9). Likewise, R. Aaron Halevi of Barcelona(about 1300 C.E.) in his Sefer Hahinukh (nos. 74,75,77,79, 81,83), Jacob Asher in Tur, Hoshen Mishpat VII, and Joseph Caro in Shulhan Arukh, Hoshen Mishpat VI1.3—all expressly state the principle that a woman cannot officiate as judge or rabbi. It hardly need be stated that when some of the sources use in this connection the term“judge”(dayan) they, of course, mean rabbi, for which dayan is but another name. In rabbinic terminology the functions of a rabbi are spoken of as being “ladin ulehorot,” to judge and decide religious and ritual questions. And even in our modern rabbinical diploma we use the formula“yoreh yoreh, yadin yadin,” giving the candidate whom we ordain the authority to judge and decide religious questions and to give authoritative ruling in all religious matters.
To be sure, the rabbis do permit the women to be religious teachers, like Miriam, who, according to the rabbis, taught the women while Moses and Aaron taught the men(Sifrei Zuta, quoted in Yalkut Shemont, Behaalotekha, 741 end), and Deborah, whom the rabbis believed to have been merely teaching the law (Seder Eliyahu Rabbah IX-X, Friedman, p. 50; compare also Tosafot, B.K. 15a, S.V.“asher tasim” and parallels). Some authorities would put certain restrictions upon woman even in regard to her position as teacher(see Kiddushin 82a, and Maimonides , Yad, Talmud Torah 11.4), but in general, the opinion of the rabbis was that women may be teachers of religion(see Hinukh, 152, and com