Ordination of Women bl 209
the opinion of Dr. Lauterbach as authoritative, namely, that from the point of view of traditional Judaism the ordination of women would not be permitted. We need not discuss that. But the practical aspect of the question has not been discussed. Namely, is it expedient, and is it worthwhile?
Rabbi Abrams: It seems to me that the question resolves itself into three parts. First, what is the principle? Second, is it consistent? Third, is it practical?
As a matter of principle, women ought to be ordained, as we now recognize that they are entitled to the same privileges and rights as men. Our ancestors never asked, is it practical? They asked, is it the will of God ? And thus they settled the question for themselves. But we must ask the question, is it in keeping with the tradition of the past? In the whole paper of Rabbi Lauterbach, we do not find the statement that women could not be ordained as rabbis. Indirectly, we inferred that they may not be ordained because we do not find any women who were ordained: At the most, sentiment was against it: but sentiment has been against women going into many of the professions even today. But that does not mean that they should not be ordained or could not be according to traditional laws.
What is our ordination today? In spite of our claim that we are the descendants of the ancient Rabbis , we must admit that the function of the modern rabbi is entirely different from the function of the Rabbi of old. In olden times, he was the judge. That was his chief function. Preaching and teaching were secondary. If we were to lay claim to be lineal descendants of the ancient teachers, we must go to the prophets of the Bible . We are the followers of the prophets more than of the Rabbis . And if we would follow the example of the women of the Bible , we would
find that many women served as prophets and that during talht. So we are not inconsistent
mudic times many of them taug d as favoring the ordi
with the past if we put ourselves on recor
nation of women.
Rabbi Joseph L. Baron: I enjoyed thoroughly the scholarly paper of my teacher on the negative view of the question, and I shall not deny that the admission of women into the rabbinate will, like