Why I'm Applying to Yeshiva University
KRASNER-DAVIDSON, HAVIVA
WHY I'M APPLYING TO YESHIVA U. HAVIVA KRASNER-DAVIDSON Don't misunderstand my intentions. I am not a man-wannabe. Yes, it's true. I am a woman and I am applying to rabbinical school at the...
...And not only do I go to shut every Shabbat, but I usually read from the Torah at my minian . And not only do I dress according to the rules of Izniul (modesty), but I wear tzitzil underneath my clothing...
...But the latter does not ordain women and as for JTS, I am torn between the ideologies of the Orthodox and Conservative movements...
...At the same time, I am frustrated by the Orthodox movement's belief in die idea that halachah should stagnate at this point in Jewish history, that rabbis today have no authority to change halachah...
...I don't want to study these texts with an objective, academic approach...
...If I were in be a rabbi with a movement, I would like to feel comfortable with the halachic stances that movement takes and to know what I can expect of my congregants...
...Like the story of the old man who planted a carob tree, not for his own benefit but for the benefit of generations to come, Szold didn't herself experience the sense of accomplishment that ordination would have brought her...
...Why am I applying to a school that I know will not accept me...
...In fact, in some c uses being a Conservative rabbi would make it more difficult for me to get a job or be published...
...While Drisha does offer a serious Jewish education, and while I am applying there and will consider going if I am accepted, I realize that I would be sacrificing something...
...I too want that satisfaction...
...I act on my convictions, but I am not a man-wannabe...
...Now nearly 50 percent of JTS rabbinical students are women...
...When I kiss my tzitzil strings as I read from the Shema that we are commanded to wear tzitzil, I feel closer to the tradition and to the generations of Jews before me who have adhered to this commandment...
...If YU were to accept me, however, it would be a different place and Orthodox Judaism would have undergone the fundamental change that would end my ambivalence about the movement...
...I know of Orthodox rabbis u ho teach in Conservative and Reform institutions...
...she didn't even see other women be so privileged...
...Learning this way for four years, full-time, would be a dream come true...
...I am a halachically committed Jew...
...I am a woman and I am applying to rabbinical school at the Orthodox Yeshiva University (YU...
...I would prefer the degree that would limit me the least...
...The Torah is a living Torah, which is how I prefer to study it...
...I stricdy observe kashrul...
...I agree with JTS's stated belief in the importance of the evolution of halachah, but I take issue with some of the seminary's halachic stances...
...I dress modestly, cover my hair and pray daily...
...It carries with it connotations of authority, morality, commitment to Judaism and a certain mastery of texts...
...Drisha gives no degrees to its students— and certainly it does not ordain them...
...in Jewish studies...
...I love the feeling of being totally absorbed in Jewish texts, of pulling books off shelves and having them pile up around me as I delve further and further into a topic of Jewish law or theology...
...But let me tell yott something about myself first...
...But I would not call myself Orthodox...
...These are all things a woman who studies at Drisha would not get...
...At least she had the satisfaction of knowing Uiat...
...Judaism has always been at the fore on issues of morality and justice and should continue to be...
...For example, the ruling that Jews can drive to shul—but only to shul—on Shabbat...
...I do not advocate overturning halachah to conform to fads or disintegrating social mores...
...So, 1 am applying to both rabbinical schools, as well as to Drisha and ITJ, with the hope that YU will see my credentials—-12 years\of day-school education, four years of honor's Talmud in high school, four years of graduate level Talmud in college, one summer of studying at a yeshivah in Jerusalem, numerous Jewish adult education courses and two semesters of teaching adult Jewish education—and decide to accept me as their First woman student...
...When I submitted a well-researched article on why women should take upon themselves the positive time-bound mitzvot (such as tejillin and tallit) to a number of halachic journals, it was rejected...
...Conservative \miclia holds little clout...
...But the reverse is not true...
...I do not perform milzvot that are usually done only by men only because I want to prove a point...
...I want to struggle with them on a theological level...
...Moreover, I don't think it is appropriate for a theological seminary to lower its standards because of the concessions that its constituents make...
...If it was, then I could study at an institution like Drisha, whose mandate is to teach women on a level equal to that in a men's yeshivah...
...But, of course, it is not only the curriculum at YU that interests me...
...I use the mikveh for taharat hamishpachah (family purity) purposes...
...He could go on to be the rav of a yeshiv-<zA,.the principal of a Jewish day school or the spiritual leader of a shul He could write books and articles on halachic subjects and his tide would automatically make him an authority...
...True, we could both teach at a Jewish day school, but most schools would not let me teach Talmud or halachah and no school would pay us equally...
...Maybe that's all it will take...
...Who knows...
...Why should I, because I am a woman, have to sacrifice that aspect of the act of learning Torah— the aspect that makes the study applicable to my everyday living as a Jew...
...I am also applying to the Jewish Theological Seminary and the Institute for Traditional Judaism (ITJ), where women are allowed to study...
...I could study full-time in their Scholars' Circle program and master the same material a rabbinical student at YU does, but I would have less to show for it than would my male counterpart...
...In fact, I would probably call myself unorthodox in certain areas of Jewish practice—especially those relating to women...
...rather, I strongly believe that rabbis should incorporate such indisputably positive social developments as democracy, the abolition of slavery and feminism into Jewish practice...
...When I put on lejillin each morning, I feel closer to God, who according to the Kabbalah, also wears a pair of lejillin in heaven...
...But it took her initiative to send in that application and plant the seed that would grow into a tree from which future generations would reap fruit...
...The main reason Yeshiva University smicha would be ideal is that within the Orthodox community...
...I am an activist...
...While it would be dishonest for me to claim that feminism has nothing to do with my taking upon myself Uiese obligations, my love for Judaism and Hashem is the driving force...
...they are my life...
...My other concern with the Conservative movement is that the practices of many member synagogues are not consistent with ilic practices of the seminary...
...While I wouldn't ostracize anyone for doing so, I don't think it is within the spirit or the letter of the laws of Shabbat to drive—even to shul...
...For instance, not only do I pray every morning, but I do so widi a tallil and lejiUin...
...So why rabbinical school...
...And if not, even Henrietta Szold was denied acceptance to rabbinical school at JTS earlier this century...
...The reasons are numerous...
...While it is true that I would love to turn Jewish women who are not observant on to some of the less "popular" mitzvot, such as mikveh and tzniul, I would also like to encourage Jewish women who are already committed to these mitzvot to take on even more-tallit and tejillin, lor example...
...Nothing is comparable to a rabbinical degree if you want to teach Torah and be involved in the halachic process...
...I cannot remove my biases and passions when it comes to Jewish texts...
...I observe and cherish Shabbat...
...I just hope that the fruit won't be left to rot on the tree...
...If the same article had been written by a rabbi, I am certain it would have been more seriously considered...
...She was allowed to lake classes but not to seek ordination...
...Moreover, it is in die Orthodox coin-in mi icy that I want to have the most impact—at least on women's issues...
...The tide "rabbi" means something...
...I love to learn...
...Why not get a Ph.D...
...My halachic basis for performing these milzvot despite my gender is the subject of another article, but I have studied the issue extensively and am convinced that I have the halachic backing to do so...
Vol. 18 • December 1993 • No. 6
