While not in disagreement with this post, I would like to add something else that I believe reflects a distinction.
My perception is that when Rabbanit Henkin founded Nishmat, she made sure that it was understood that her motivation to teach women gemara was motivated internally within the values of Torah. In connection with this, she, in my perception, was adamant in focusing on this innovation while insisting on otherwise traditional standards in regard to anything else. While there was still criticism of her undertaking, the challenge that it was motivated externally from outside values was thereby muted.
This is not so with the Maharat. |In this regard, not only has there been a lack of concern for the argument that its motivation may come from external values but there has even been an embracing of such external values. I read somewhere, for example, that in an early discussion regarding the first Maharat/Rabbah, a female Reform rabbi was present. The perception is such that the real motivation is not within the realm of Torah but from the developments in the outside world.
This is not to say that I do not believe that Torah must consider the value developments of the outside world. If we are to be yashar b'einei adam, this would seem to include a sensitivity to external moral developments. Yet, the standard of Torah as the ikkur must still always shine through. This, I believe, is a further distinction.
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While not in disagreement with this post, I would like to add something else that I believe reflects a distinction.
My perception is that when Rabbanit Henkin founded Nishmat, she made sure that it was understood that her motivation to teach women gemara was motivated internally within the values of Torah. In connection with this, she, in my perception, was adamant in focusing on this innovation while insisting on otherwise traditional standards in regard to anything else. While there was still criticism of her undertaking, the challenge that it was motivated externally from outside values was thereby muted.
This is not so with the Maharat. |In this regard, not only has there been a lack of concern for the argument that its motivation may come from external values but there has even been an embracing of such external values. I read somewhere, for example, that in an early discussion regarding the first Maharat/Rabbah, a female Reform rabbi was present. The perception is such that the real motivation is not within the realm of Torah but from the developments in the outside world.
This is not to say that I do not believe that Torah must consider the value developments of the outside world. If we are to be yashar b'einei adam, this would seem to include a sensitivity to external moral developments. Yet, the standard of Torah as the ikkur must still always shine through. This, I believe, is a further distinction.
Rabbi Ben Hecht
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