MK Rothman: Let’s be clear: the knowledge and experience of female Torah scholars is equal to that of their male peers!
Last week we participated in a stormy debate in the Knesset Constitution Committee on the issue of the proposed Rabbinical Bill dealing with the appointment of women to the Assembly that elects Israel’s Chief Rabbis. The High Court of Justice (in response to the Rackman Center’s petition) recently ruled that female scholars of Halacha (“Nashot Halacha”) should participate alongside men in the Assembly that elects Chief Rabbis, and, together, represent the religious world in this selection process.
The debate in the Knesset Committee was on a bill that seeks to ignore the High Court ruling and deny Nashot Halacha adequate representation in the Assembly. MK Rothman, Chairman of the Constitution Committee, actually referred to the importance of recognizing female scholars and Halacha experts within the framework of the law, and the need to allocate places for them in the Electoral Assembly, but he offered a new classification: “women who are engaged in increasing the honor of Heaven”.
This is not a mere semantic choice. It is a manipulation that allows those in power to continue to control the recognition and exclusion of Nashot Halacha. This terminology diminishes the status of female Torah scholars, who will never be recognized as equal to their male counterparts who carry the title “Rabbi”. This is a choice that does not respect their long years of study, and ignores religious women who lead communities, give Halachic opinions, and devote the majority of their time to Torah study.
We call on the Chairman of the Committee to withdraw his proposal, to respect Nashot Halacha and to advance legislation that expresses this in the proper way.
Read about Rackman Center’s legal achievement in The Times of Israel:
High Court rules women can fill ‘rabbi’ slots in Chief Rabbinate’s top bodies.
Photo: Yossi Zamir/Shatil Stock
