Eight years ago, I was privileged to become the marta d’atra (halakhic authority) of Kehilat Orach Eliezer (KOE) on the Upper West Side of New York City. The congregation refers to me as rosh kehillah—“head of the congregation.” In this role, I deliver drashot on Shabbat. Throughout the week, I am available to answer halakhic questions (on kashrut, niddah, hilkhot Shabbat, etc.). I prepare the community for the chaggim, and offer Gemara and halakha shiurim. When necessary, I coordinate lifecycle events, counsel members of the community, and work with the board and lay leadership to sustain the congregation financially and meet the needs of its various constituents. I have the ultimate responsibility to ensure that there is a minyan present to begin davening on time with competent ba’alei tefillah and kri’ah.
As I reflect on my time as the spiritual leader for KOE, I acknowledge my deep gratitude for the institution that appointed me as their leader: first, for the courage to hire a woman as their marta d’atra; second, for the value the congregation has placed on my service to the kehillah; and third, for how the position itself has served to help me develop professionally and gives me hope for the future of klal Yisrael and the pursuit of Torat emet.
About My Congregation
Throughout its nearly two decades, the members of KOE have understood the importance of creating a community of Jewish men and women dedicated to Torah, mitzvot, and gemilut hasadim. The welcoming environment that they have established, along with their support for learning, tefillah, and service to others, serve as a model for any Jewish institution. KOE’s membership recognized that, rather than being an obstacle to a community’s cohesion or an indication of religious passivity, appointing a communal leader is a necessary and integral part of a vibrant and religiously committed community.
They recognized there are times in people’s lives that necessitate the advice and guidance of a spiritual leader for halakhic questions and life-cycle events. They understood the value, both on a communal level and on a personal level, of having a specific individual available to aid its members in working through personal and familial problems, existential dilemmas, and questions related to understanding the Torah, rabbinic texts, and Jewish thought.
The fact that a community has appointed and hired a professional to attend to its needs, and the implicit understanding that this individual has a commitment and dedication to the membership and the wider community, fosters the bond I have merited to have with my community. At times, members of other communities that did not have a spiritual leader in place have called on me for halakhic guidance for their community, asked for guidance for life-cycle events and for personal questions, and requested my assistance in selling their hametz before Pesach. These are the functions of a mara d’atra, which often go unnoticed and unappreciated.
My community understood that there is precedence for women’s communal leadership. They recognized that there was a pool of professional women who were not being considered, who would be able to serve in the role of leader for their minyanim. I do not take this role for granted. Although there have been women in our mesorah who have served in positions of leadership, both in communal life and in yeshivot, I am fully aware that my appointment as marta d’atra of KOE provided me with an opportunity that no Orthodox woman in modern history had previously been given: to be the leader of an Orthodox community for which I am empowered to set the halakhic standards.
My position has involved working with the synagogue board, the membership, and other Orthodox communities, in order to strengthen a connection to Ha-Kadosh Barukh Hu, to adhere to His Torah, and to reinforce commitment to halakha. The position of marta d’atra, which KOE created, has given support to other women seeking professional opportunities in the field of synagogue leadership within Orthodoxy. Furthermore, KOE has served as a model for communities to think about possibilities of women serving in communal leadership positions.
No Compromise Due to My Gender
Never, during the years that I have served as the leader of KOE, have I ever felt compromised in my role because of my gender. The feedback and devotion of my kehillah have inspired me and brought me to places of greater growth and development. On a personal level, this position has created a venue in which I could actualize my potential and gain a measure of fulfillment that I had not previously had. This professional path was not something I ever envisioned for myself or thought possible to consider as an Orthodox Jew. No Orthodox institutions of advanced study presented this as a possibility, and there were no kehillot bold enough to extend such a position of leadership. When I was approached to apply for this position, I had already been teaching Torah and answering halakhic questions in many venues, including scholar-inresidence speaking engagements, and advising rabbanim on issues of bioethics and halakha. I recognized that this would be an opportunity to serve the community through teaching Torah, guiding the membership in the area of halakha, and providing pastoral care. I also understood that it was a unique chance to actualize my potential in the Jewish community.
Ironically, with all the fanfare and debate about women in communal leadership roles, this issue almost never comes up in my day-to-day involvement with my kehillah. As is the case in many small congregations that have only one employed clergy member, I am something of a kol-bo (all-around “jack of all trades”). The kehillah needs its leader to put her head, heart, and soul into all facets of the congregation to enable it to succeed. The pressure of this job is not about gender; it is about finding extra hours in the day to ensure that every person is taken care of, that questions are answered, that the minyan gets organized, that the concerns of the kehillah are addressed.
Over the past few years, in conjunction with the KOE board, I have had to shift gears and work hard to raise funds to keep the kehillah going and to meet the needs of a changing population demographically. The Upper West Side is a transient community, and this has presented a great challenge: to grow the KOE population while ensuring that every member can participate, regardless of financial status. KOE always has made Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur services free of charge. There was a strong desire to make people feel welcome and comfortable, but the kehillah was struggling financially. I had to learn fundraising (initially, not an easy task for me). Fortunately, a number of individuals who valued the kehillah and had the means to support it financially came forward. Over my eight years with KOE, the congregation has always rented space for Shabbat, Yom Tov, and for storage, and twice the community needed to relocate due to rising rental costs. These shifts have been a very serious blow to the sense of community and the continuity of an Orthodox kehillah.
Functioning within an Orthodox Framework
One of the disappointments for me in my role as marta d’atra was that there were people outside my kehillah who had a difficult time acknowledging that this position was within Orthodoxy. Even though it was clear to me and many other Orthodox rabbanim that my position was within an Orthodox framework (the synagogue functions in accordance with Orthodox halakhic standards and process), there were individuals who tried to delegitimize it and made untrue statements about my position, my congregation, and me personally. Malicious comments on the Internet, often anonymous, have been nearly impossible to correct and refute.
Contrary to the claims of these detractors, when it comes to Jewish spiritual leadership, the precedents have already been set in Jewish history. Beyond the biblical and rabbinic leadership of Miriam, Devorah, and Bruriah, we have had leaders such as Dolce of Worms, Eva Bacharach, Osnat Mizrahi, and Hannah Rachel Webermacher, who provided models of how a community of learned people chose those best suited to serve based on skill, not gender. I saw my own position as enabling me to pursue what has been true in our incredible mesorah.
I have tremendous gratitude to Ha-Kadosh Barukh Hu for all the berakhot given to me in my life, including a supportive family; an extraordinary husband, James Licht; and three remarkable children, as well as wonderful congregants with whom I’ve shared meaningful relationships. I have benefited from the vision and courage of others in the advancement of women’s Torah education and leadership: Rabbi Saul Berman, Rivka Haut, Esther Krauss, Reb Mimi Feigelson, Blu Greenberg, Rabbanit Chana Henkin, Rav Yehuda Henkin, Rabbi Dov Linzer, Rabbi David Silber, Dr. Haym Soloveitchik, and Rabbi Avi Weiss. Were it not for their efforts, positions like mine would not be available to Orthodox women. Today, women serve as heads of learning institutions, thanks to institutions like Drisha, Nishmat, Yeshivat Maharat, and others that prepare women for leadership roles in Jewish communities. In addition to the scholarship they have acquired, these women are enabled to care for the needs of our communities at the highest level.
I encourage our communities and institutions to open their communal leadership positions to all those who are proficient in areas of Torah scholarship and halakha. In this way, we will widen the pool of talented and passionate individuals who can inspire an increased commitment to Torah and Am Yisrael. Moreover, women and men working as colleagues will create mutual respect, which strengthens the quality of the education.
I am encouraged by institutions hiring women as well as men to teach Judaic subjects on the highest level. These professionals are educating girls and boys based on skill rather than on gender. I am also encouraged that Rabbi Shlomo Riskin has begun—through his yeshiva, Midreshet Lindenbaum—to give a sh’tar (document) of morot hora’ah and manhigot ruhaniyot to women, and that Yeshivat Maharat is giving a sh’tar with the title maharat to women. Drisha Institute continues to enable women to become true talmidot hakhamot through their rigorous learning programs. Nishmat and Matan enable women to master specific areas of halakha.
Ultimately, empowering women and giving them a legitimate voice facilitates more leadership and learning within our community. More people being engaged in Torah observance and learning needs to be seen as an advancement and achievement for all of Am Yisrael. Beyond this, a community benefits from the increased sensitivity and acknowledgement of the various roles that people can play and a heightened sense of respect for one another.
It has been my unique privilege to be a part of Kehilat Orach Eliezer, a religious community that acknowledges that true leadership should be based on competence and character, not gender. I serve my kehillah with tremendous gratitude and devotion. It is my hope that the example of KOE can serve as a model for other institutions to create the possibility for qualified women, as well as men, to serve in senior positions of leadership.