Taking on the RCA re women in leadership roles

Please pardon the usual formatting problems. Note that the change in font size is not deliberate. (Grumble.) :(

Thanks to Rabbi Gil Student for the link to this post on the Sisterhood blog. Here's an excerpt from the post, which discusses a recent letter to the Rabbinical Council of America from the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance, and an independent petition to the RCA from three Modern Orthodox college women, advocating the advancement of women's leadership roles in synagogues and within the Jewish community:

“Herein lies the paradox in making change within Orthodoxy, and hence JOFA’s quandary. Women, by virtue of not being rabbis, are never considered true authorities on anything, and our decisions are always subject to the approval of male rabbis. Yet, as soon as a male rabbi declares support for women, he is labeled not Orthodox by his colleagues. As if the definition of an Orthodox rabbi is this: does not support women’s advancement.

[ ¶ ]

In order to give Orthodox women an equal role, Orthodox rabbis need to support it, but Orthodox rabbis cannot support it and be called Orthodox. In order for women to have a voice, they need to be called rabbis, but even suggesting such a thing gets a person evicted from the club. This is a catch-22 if there ever was one.”

[ ¶ ]

My sincerest wishes for the best of luck to all those hoping to level the playing field (Orthodox Judaism) while still remaining on the field.