FIRSTS, FEMINISM AND FUTURE WORK

Dear Friends,

This past week, I had the opportunity to participate in a historic virtual gathering sponsored by the Women’s Rabbinic Network. Over three days, hundreds of rabbis, who identify as female, from all around the world met to learn together. This week marks the 49th anniversary of what’s typically called the first rabbinic ordination of a woman. He name is Sally Priesand and she served a congregation in New Jersey for most of her career. She attended the conference this week and is a true inspiration. Since her ordination, over 800 women have been ordained.

Yet, there is more to the story. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, it was discovered that Sally Priesand wasn’t really the first woman ordained. In 1935, a German woman named Regina Jonas sought and received ordination. As more male rabbis were deported to concentration camps, Regina Jonas took on increasingly important roles in German synagogues. Then, Regina Jonas herself was arrested and sent to Theresienstadt, where she served as rabbi to the other detainees for 2 years. Tragically, she was eventually sent to Auschwitz, where she was murdered. Before Regina Jonas was arrested, she put together an archive of her papers to prove her existence to future generations. This archive was hidden away in East Berlin. Several prominent male rabbis knew Regina and survived the Holocaust but, for whatever reason, chose to never mention her or her accomplishments. Only after Communism fell was Regina’s archive discovered and her story revealed.

Yesterday marked Rosh Hodesh, the first of the Hebrew month of Tamuz. In Israel, a group called Women of the Wall gathers each Rosh Hodesh to pray as a group at the Western Wall. Women of the Wall is highly controversial in Israel. Israeli religious authorities do not allow women to pray together at the Western Wall. At past gatherings, the women have been attacked physically and verbally. Some have been arrested. Yesterday, a group of ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students, egged on by their teachers, grabbed the women’s prayerbooks and tore them up. Thirty-nine Hebrew prayer books were destroyed, the torn pages swept by the wind across the Western Wall plaza. Imagine if a group of non-Jews had torn up Jewish prayer books at the Western Wall. It would be called antisemitism. It would be called a book burning. It would be called fascism. The world Jewish community would be up in arms.

The hiding and destruction of women’s voices, words and history is nothing new. This week, I felt bolstered by studying with my female colleagues, as I am often strengthened by learning with male colleagues and with you, the members of Beth Chai. Still, the actions on the Western Wall plaza remind us of the work still ahead.

Rabbie Cohen