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and family of his own. The wife whom God has made as help­mate to him can be, and in most cases is, of great assistance to him in making his home a Jewish home, a model for the congre­gation to follow.

In this important activity of the rabbi—exercising a whole­some influence upon the congregation—the woman rabbi would be deficient. The woman in the rabbinical office could not expect the man to whom she was married to be merely a helpmate to her, assisting her in her rabbinical activities. And even if she could find such a man, willing to take a subordinate position in the family, the influence upon the families in the congregation of such an arrangement in the home and in the family life of the rabbi would not be very wholesome.(Not to mention the fact that if she is to be a mother she could not go on with her regular activities in the congregation.)

And there is, to my mind, no injustice done to woman by excluding her from this office. There are many avenues open to her if she chooses to do religious or educational work. I can see no reason why we should make this radical departure from tra­ditional practice except the specious argument that we are mod­ern men and, as such, we recognize the full equality of women to men, hence we should be thoroughly consistent. But I would not class the rabbis with those people whose main characteristic

is consistency.

Discussion

Rabbi Levinger: I feel very strongly on this question. When we look at the various denominations in this country who are

opposed to ordaining women as ministers we find that they are

those who, like the Episcopalians and the Catholics , look upon their ministers as priests. To us the rabbi is merely a teacher and preacher. The question is not whether there are a great many women who want to become rabbis. Perhaps there are none at all. But we are called upon to act on a matter of principle, and if in the next thirty or forty years we produce but one Anna Howard Shaw , we want her in the rabbinate.