Ruth, Conversion, and the Tragedy of the Israeli Beit Din
I would like to dedicate this post to my friend Ariella Zeller, who taught me everything about women, friendship, and love.
Despite rumors to the contrary, I am fairly certain that Ruth did not convert to Judaism. At least not by today’s standards. Even though we celebrate Ruth as the quintessential convert, the fact is, she became Jewish without doing any of the things that the rabbis would have demanded of her in the modern state of Israel. The Book of Ruth has no mention of dipping naked into mikva. There is no mention of three haredi men watching, and asking her all kinds of prodding questions. There is no interrogation. No studying of halakha for years. No coming to her house and checking how she makes tea on Shabbat. I mean, chances are she didn’t even keep Shabbat or kashruth. What, you think when Naomi left Israel to be the only Jews in Moab, her sons married Moabite women but she was actually using two sets of dishes and putting a plata on her stove on Shabbat? It’s ridiculous. Elimelech and Naomi left Israel for ten years without ever looking back. They left because there was a famine and bread was more important than heritage. The Jewish people was not important to Elimelech, he let his sons marry local women, and never made plans to go back to Israel. So, really, what are the chances that he kept a kosher home over there in Moab? I’d say between slim and nil. Ruth probably never even heard of Shabbat. Read the rest of this entry →
The blogosphere is abuzz with news of the new program opening up for women to become clergy in the Orthodox world. “Maharat,” the title being granted to women graduates of the program, a cumbersome acronym for something like “spiritual, religious, Torah teacher,” is being touted by JOFA as “an historic moment for the Jewish people” in that it “ordains” women as “clergy.” JOFA announced that Sara Hurwitz, the first Maharat in history, “has passed the same tests required for rabbinic ordination that entitle men to be called Rabbi. We trust that Yeshivat Mahara"t will offer this same opportunity to other qualified women so that they can take their rightful position in Orthodox leadership.”
Although it is encouraging to see so many people come out in support of women’s advancement in Jewish life, the announcement is disingenuous and troubling. 
The organization has no money, he explained, and then he gently asked me if I would be willing to do this “not as a volunteer,” but with the understanding that I would be paid “eventually,” or “some time in the future”. I smiled politely and said that I’m grateful that he is not asking me to volunteer because I do quite a bit of volunteer work and can’t take on any more, and that this is my livelihood. And then it came, the question that always comes in conversations like this: “What does your husband do?”
Today is a very important day for women in Israel. This morning opened the rape and sexual assault trial of former President of Israel Moshe Katzav. Today is the day we will begin to find out whether Israel is ready to tackle the issue of violence against women, even in halls of power, or whether the good ol' boys club will continue to dominate public opinion. I'm cautiously optimistic that there have been some signs of change, but I'm going to be following events carefully. 
