H eadlines
“It’s still true that it’s often harder for women to feel like their
authority as a rabbi is respected, especially when they are younger.”
RABBI LAUREN GRABELLE HERMANN
Rabbi Cynthia Kravitz was
ordained in 1983. She spent
22 years leading Kesher Israel
Congregation in West Chester.

She also served at Congregation
Or Ami in Lafayette Hill, the
Germantown Jewish Centre in
Philadelphia and Temple Har
Zion in Mount Holly, New Jersey.

Kravitz said that when she
started, reactions to female rabbis
fell into two categories: open to it
and vehemently against it.

“There were going to be any
number of people who would
Rabbi Lauren Grabelle Hermann started Kol Tzedek in Philadelphia
tell you you couldn’t be a
back in the 2000s. Now she leads a congregation in New York City.

Photo by Chrystie Sherman rabbi,” she added. “You had to
deal with that.”
Hermann said.

Boswell-Levy, the comments
Female rabbis of Kravitz’s
But in the generation weren’t so passive-aggressive. generation had no women to
above Grabelle Hermann and They were just aggressive.

look up to, either. They were
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM JEWISH EXPONENT
the ones blazing the trail.

Kravitz explained that two
beliefs got her through: She felt
that she was supposed to be a
rabbi and that she was making
history. “The world was changing.

There were enough signs that
the Jewish world was ready to
change,” she said. “You listened
to it and you just kept going.”
Today, perceptions are less
harsh but still a challenge. Nor
are they the only remaining
difficulty. Rabbi Beth Kalisch of Beth
David Reform Congregation
in Gladwyne was ordained in
2009 and faced “sexism from
search committees” during her
early job application process.

Independent Rabbi Lynnda
Targen said that couples and
funeral homes often prefer
men to preside over weddings
and funerals.

But as Grabelle Hermann
explained, kids are now growing
up with female rabbis. She
even heard one story, from a
Philadelphia family, about kids
looking through a book with the
stereotypical image of a rabbi:
the old man with the long beard.

“They said, ‘Wait, men can
be rabbis?’” Grabelle Hermann
recalled. “That stereotypical
image didn’t resonate with
them.” l
jsaffren@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0740
JANUARY 13, 2022
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