Rabba
Sara Hurwitz
Artistic rendering of Rabba Sara Hurwitz
Personal
Born (1977-03-15) March 15, 1977
Johannesburg, South Africa
ReligionJudaism
SpouseJosh Abraham[1]
DenominationOrthodox Judaism
Alma materBarnard College
Midreshet Lindenbaum
PositionRabba
SynagogueHebrew Institute of Riverdale
PositionPresident, co-Founder
YeshivaYeshivat Maharat

Sara Hurwitz is an Orthodox Jewish spiritual leader aligned with the "Open Orthodox" faction of Modern Orthodox Judaism in the United States. She is considered by some to be the first female Orthodox rabbi[2].[3][4] She serves as Rabba at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale,[5] and the president and co-founder of Yeshivat Maharat,[6] both in Riverdale, New York.

Early career

Hurwitz was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, on March 15, 1977, to relatively secular parents Melanie and Mervyn Hurwitz.[2][7][8] Seeing the violence in apartheid South African and not wanting to raise a family there, the Hurwitz family moved to Boca Raton, Florida in 1989. Due to the lack of Jewish day schools in Boca Raton at the time, she chose to attend the local public school. Her Jewish education came from her synagogue life, youth groups, and her aunt, who introduced her to Orthodox Judaism.[2][8] As a teenager, she was interested in teaching Torah and Jewish text to adults.[2]

Hurwitz graduated from high school in 1994 and then studied for a year at Midreshet Lindenbaum. She then attended Barnard College, where she majored in psychology, graduating in 1999. While at Barnard, she joined a group of women who created Lights in Action, a student-run organization that connected Jewish students to Judaism by organizing conferences and producing teaching materials. Hurwitz continued as the director of Lights in Action after graduating, serving for a total of six years.[2]

In 2000, Hurwitz entered the Drisha Institute for Women in the Drisha Scholars Circle Program.[9] During her time at Drisha, Hurwitz began teaching and lecturing around the country with programs such as the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance, CLAL, and Jewish Community Centers. After graduating in 2003, she worked for JOFA's Gender and Orthodoxy project for three years and developed a gender-sensitive biblical curriculum for Orthodox day schools.[2]

Rabbinic career

Ordination

In 2003, Hurwitz began working with Rabbi Avi Weiss of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale. She became the congregational intern for ten years. In this position, she taught, spoke from the pulpit, officiated at life-cycle events, helped lead the women's prayer group, answered halakhic (Jewish legal) questions, and provided counseling. However, although she conducted all of the rabbinical functions except for those in the minyan (as an Orthodox minyan requires ten men), she was not able to be included in the congregation's rabbinic staff due to her gender. While her male counterparts were assistant rabbi and moved onto their own pulpits, she was unable to advance in a similar way.

Hurwitz studied halakha under Weiss for eight years, culminating in her completing her oral and written exams in 2008. Weiss and two colleagues, including Daniel Sperber agreed to ordain her in the near future, and Weiss and Sperber publicly gave her the title Maharat in a public ceremony at HIR in March 2009 (the third colleague withdrew due to public criticism).[2] Although groups hosted by Blu Greenberg had determined that she should take the title "rabbi" or "rabba," Weiss decided to use the title MaHaRaT, an acronym for Manhiga Hilchatit Ruchanit Toranit (Hebrew: מנהיגה הלכתית רוחנית תורנית), denoting a female "leader of Jewish law spirituality and Torah".[2][10][11]

In February 2010, Weiss announced that he was changing the title to "Rabba",[4] a move criticised by both Agudath Yisrael and the Rabbinical Council of America.[12][13] While this change has remained controversial, other women have taken the title following Rabba Hurwitz.[2]

Creating Maharat

In conversations with other women surrounding and at her ordination, Hurwitz and Weiss realized the need for an institution to support the Orthodox ordination of women. They announced the creation of such an institution, and in September 2009 opened Maharat. Within several years of Hurwitz's ordination, subsequent Orthodox women also received ordination as well as positions within Orthodox synagogues. This development indicated that Hurwitz was no longer an exception within Orthodox Judaism.[14]

Connecting with other female rabbis

On Dec. 6th, 2010, at Conservative Temple Reyim in Newton, MA, Sara Hurwitz met with Amy Eilberg, the first Conservative rabbi, Sally Priesand, the first Reform female rabbi, and Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, the first Reconstructionist female rabbi.[15][16] They and approximately 30 other women rabbis lit Chanukah candles and then spoke about their experiences in an open forum.[15][16]

On June 3, 2012, Priesand, Sasso, Eilberg, and Hurwitz met again, this time at Monmouth Reform Temple at a celebration honoring the four first women rabbis to be ordained in their respective denominations, and the 40th anniversary of Priesand's ordination.[17]

Personal life

In 2001, Hurwitz married lawyer Joshua Abraham, with whom she has four sons.[2]

Recognition

The art exhibit "Holy Sparks", which opened in February 2022 at the Heller Museum and the Skirball Museum, featured 24 Jewish women artists, who had each created an artwork about a female rabbi who was a first in some way.[25][26][27] Kathryn Jacobi created the artwork about Hurwitz.[27]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Sara's Story". Yeshivat Maharat. July 6, 2010. Archived from the original on January 24, 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 "Sara Hurwitz". Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved 2023-06-12.
  3. ↑ Chottiner, Lee (June 10, 2011). "Pioneering clergy". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved October 29, 2014.
  4. 1 2 Dresner, Stacey (March 4, 2010). "First Orthodox Woman Rabbi is ordained in NY". Jewish Ledger. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016.
  5. ↑ Cohen, Debra Nussbaum (March 3, 2010). "Woman 'Rabba' Roils Orthodox World". The Forward. Retrieved March 22, 2010.
  6. ↑ Freedman, Samuel G. (July 26, 2013). "A Jewish Pathbreaker Inspired by Her Countryman Mandela". The New York Times. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  7. ↑ Eisner, Jane (November 14, 2009). "Forward 50, 2009". The Forward. Retrieved March 13, 2010.
  8. 1 2 Freedman, Samuel G. (2013-07-26). "A Jewish Pathbreaker Inspired by Her Countryman Mandela". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-06-13.
  9. ↑ Pogrebin, Abigail (July 11, 2010). "The Rabbi and the Rabba". New York. Retrieved April 14, 2011.
  10. ↑ Harris, Ben (March 3, 2009). "Orthodox Female Rabbi? False Alarm". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Archived from the original on December 7, 2012.
  11. ↑ Pogrebin, Abigail (2010-07-09). "How Avi Weiss's Ordainment of the First Woman in Orthodox Judaism Sparked an Outrage -- New York Magazine - Nymag". New York Magazine. Retrieved 2023-06-13.
  12. ↑ Breger, Sarah (November 2010). "Do 1 Rabba, 2 Rabbis and 1 Yeshiva = a New Denomination?". Moment Magazine. Retrieved March 21, 2013.
  13. ↑ Brown, Elicia; Rosenblatt, Gary (March 16, 2010). "'Rabba' Hurwitz Mulling Retracting New Title". The Jewish Week. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
  14. ↑ Frishman, J. (2019). The Ordination of Women and the Question of Religious Authority. Gender and Religious Leadership: Women Rabbis, Pastors, and Ministers, 289.
  15. 1 2 "- Classifieds, News, Business, and Events". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  16. 1 2 "Celebrating the First Lights of Women Rabbis". Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  17. ↑ "Four Firsts". fourfirsts.org. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  18. ↑ Lynton, Michael (2010-06-28). "The 50 Most Influential Rabbis in America". Newsweek. Retrieved 2023-06-13.
  19. ↑ Blumenkranz, Stephanie. "Rabba Sara Hurwitz Receives Hadassah Foundation's Tannenbaum Prize". Retrieved 2023-06-13.
  20. ↑ "Hadassah Foundation Awards Bernice S. Tannenbaum Award To Dr. Yifat Bitton". eJewish Philanthropy. 2014-06-15. Retrieved 2023-06-13.
  21. ↑ Rubin, Debra (November 3, 2014). "Women honor Orthodoxy's first 'rabba'". New Jersey Jewish News.
  22. ↑ "Wexner Field Fellowship Roster". The Wexner Foundation. Retrieved 2023-06-13.
  23. ↑ "2020 Honorees". Auburn Seminary. Retrieved 2023-06-13.
  24. ↑ Rabba Sara Hurwitz Receiving the Rabbi Israel & Libby Mowshowitz Award from NYBR. May 10, 2023, retrieved 2023-06-13
  25. ↑ "2022 Gala, Rabbi Levy's Shabbat Message, Tzedek Council and more... ✨". kol-ami.org.
  26. ↑ https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2022/05/13/jewish-contributions-in-cincinnati.html
  27. 1 2 "VIDEO: HOLY SPARKS – Celebrating 50 Years of Women in the Rabbinate". Jewish Art Salon. January 30, 2022.
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