Who Was Regina Jonas?

Regina Jonas: The First Woman Rabbi in the World

Regina Jonas was born on August 3, 1902 in Berlin. Her father died when she was very young. She became a teacher like many women at that time, however Regina Jonas was not content with simply being a teacher. In Berlin, she enrolled at the Hochschule fuer die Wissenschaft des Judentums, the Academy for the Science of Judaism, a seminary for liberal rabbis and educators. There she graduated as an "Academic Teacher of Religion."

Still that did not satisfy her. Regina Jonas wanted to become a rabbi. She wrote a thesis that would have been an ordination requirement. Her topic was: "Can a Woman Be a Rabbi According to Halachic Sources?" Her conclusion, based on biblical, Talmudic, and rabbinical sources, was: Yes.. And thus, she should have been ordained.

The Talmud professor responsible for ordinations refused to ordain her. Regina applied to Rabbi Leo Baeck, spiritual leader of German Jewry, who had taught her at the seminary. He also refused, maybe because her ordination would have caused massive intra-Jewish communal problems with the Orthodox rabbinate in Germany.

On December 27, 1935 Regina Jonas was ordained by the liberal Rabbi Max Dienemann in Offenbach who was the head of the Liberal Rabbis’ Association. Being ordained was one thing, but finding a pulpit was another. Regina Jonas found work as a chaplain in various Jewish social institutions.

Because of Nazi persecution many rabbis emigrated and so many small communities were without rabbinical support. How ironic: Nazi persecution made it possible for her to be a rabbi and to preach in a synagogue, but not for a long period. She was soon ordered - like all Jews - into forced labor in a factory. Despite this, she continued her rabbinical work, i.e. she continued to teach and to preach.

On November 3, 1942, Regina Jonas had to fill out a declaration form. That declaration form listed her property — including her books. Two days later, all her property was confiscated "for the benefit of the German Reich." The next day, Gestapo arrested her. It was November 6, 1942. She was deported to Theresienstadt. Even there her rabbinate did not end. Viktor Frankl, the well-known psychologist, asked her for help. He wanted to built up a crisis intervention service to improve the possibility of surviving. . Her particular job was to meet the trains at the station. There she helped people cope with shock and disorientation.

A hand-written list of 24 of her lectures entitled "Lectures of the One and Only Woman Rabbi, Regina Jonas," still exists and can still be found in the archives of Theresienstadt. Five lectures are about the history of Jewish women,. five deal with Talmudic topics, two deal with Biblical themes,. three with pastoral issues, and nine offer general introductions to Jewish beliefs, ethics, and the festivals.

Regina Jonas worked tirelessly in Theresienstadt for two years. Finally, she was deported to Auschwitz. We even know on which day she was murdered. It was December 12, 1944. She was 42 years old .

In 1972 the reform and reconstructionist movement in the USA began to ordain women rabbis. In 1995 Bea Wyler, who had studied at the JTS in New York, became the first woman rabbi in post war Germany at the Jewish community of Oldenburg.

From here.

Also see here for an interesting article on pay disparities between male and female rabbis in the Conservative movement.

Oh, the confusion!

"It is simply an invented history with only a few referents to things that really happened or existed. From an historian’s point of view, ancient Israel is a monstrous creature. It is something sprung out of the fantasy of biblical historiographers and their modern paraphrasers...."

On The Problems of Reconstructing Pre-Hellenistic Israelite (Palestinian) History, by Niels Peter Lemche

vs.

"Science reveals the astounding truth behind the mysteries and miracles of the Bible! A confirmation of the Book of Books!"

The Bible as History, by Werner Keller

Yeshiva Education: The (Somewhat Unhelpful) Results

The following are some of the results of a recent study on the effects of Jewish day-school on (Jewish) college students:

Academic Preparation in High School
Jewish high school alumni from a non-Orthodox background are the most positive about the level of intellectual challenge and engagement fostered by teachers in classes. This group’s ratings of its preparation in the areas of history, writing, and study skills are on par with the ratings of alumni from private high schools and significantly higher than those of either Orthodox raised alumni of Jewish high schools or alumni of public schools. However, in math, science, and computer literacy, Jewish high school alumni from both Orthodox and non-Orthodox backgrounds perceive that they were significantly less well prepared as compared with both public and private high school peers.

Academic Performance in College
There are no significant differences in the self-reported GPAs of those who attended public, private, or day schools. Students from non-Orthodox backgrounds with six or more years of day school demonstrate the highest academic self-confidence. While day school students from an Orthodox background experience lower math confidence, they like other students who attended day schools, do not appear to experience any skill deficits that limit their willingness to select major fields of study that are dependent on skills related to math and science. Nor are they any more likely than other students to feel the need for tutoring or remedial work in math or science.

Response to Individual Learning Needs
Jewish high school alumni from non-Orthodox backgrounds are the most positive about the encouragement and support received from teachers, and are second only to private high school peers when it comes to their evaluations of the availability of extra help or attention to individual learning needs. By contrast, Jewish high school alumni from Orthodox backgrounds are consistently the least positive in their evaluations of their school’s response to their individual learning needs and the availability of supplementary help. At both ends of the spectrum of ability, day schools appear to be less able to serve the needs of diverse learners, both those who are academically gifted and those who need additional or specialized educational supports.

Integration into College Life
Like other undergraduates, students who attended day schools participate in all aspects of undergraduate life and are well represented in the ranks of student leaders. Even as they maintain strong connections to their day school friends, the social networks of Jewish high school alumni are overwhelmingly comprised of new friends they have met in their dorms, in classes, and through the clubs and organizations in which they participate. At the same time, former day school students, especially those with extensive day school experience, have shown themselves to be more resistant than their public school peers to social pressures for the type of heavy drinking that leads to other risky situations and behaviors. The most striking feature of the social networks of those who attended day schools is the density of their connections with Jewish peers. Those with extensive day school experience are also more likely to restrict their dating to Jewish peers.

Jewish Campus Involvement
Whether the criterion is involvement in formal Jewish learning, enrollment in Jewish studies courses, observance of holidays, programs on the Holocaust, Israel and Jewish culture, opportunities to do community service sponsored by a Jewish organization, knowledge or Israel or informal celebrations of Jewish holidays with friends, those who have attended day schools are more involved compared with those who did not attend. In terms of most aspects of Jewish campus life and ritual observance, former day school attendees from Orthodox homes are far and away the most involved. But perhaps even more striking is the demonstrated power of day schools to build strong Jewish identities and connections among students who come from non-Orthodox backgrounds.

Civic Responsibility
Day schools, especially those that attract students from non-Orthodox backgrounds, succeed at imparting an orientation of civic and social responsibility to their students. Former day school students express a stronger sense of responsibility towards addressing the needs of the larger society by influencing social values, helping those in need, volunteering their time to social change efforts, and finding careers that allow them to be of service to the larger community as compared with their public and private school peers. Students with day school experience, especially those from Orthodox backgrounds, also express a greater commitment to the Jewish community, as reflected in their intent to pursue Jewish communal careers.

This is some interesting stuff that should be examined by all Yeshivot. It's time for some introspection - and not the kind that we do on Yom Kippur. I'm not sure how accurate the data are, especially because the survey was conducted online and I think the researchers didn't drill down far enough into the general category "orthodox," yet I'm sure the data can be helpful for future planning in Yeshivot.

2nd Temple Quarry Found

Apparently I'm on a Biblical archaeology stint here. The Jerusalem Post reports the supposed discovery of an ancient quarry where King Herod's workers chiseled huge high-quality limestones for the construction of the Second Temple, including the Western Wall.

Contrapuntalism Explained

1. Each man lines up in your gap.

2. 8 people will show rush.

3. A call will tell who will drop for fakes.

Example: “ Pressure Kick 29”.....this call lets us know that #2 & #9 will drop for fakes. Everyone else rush!

“ Pressure Kick 47”.....this call lets us know that #4 & #7 will drop for fakes. Everyone else rush!

“ All-out Pressure Kick”......this call alerts us that everyone will rush the punter.




Did I mention that I hate academic snobbery?

Deciphering Academic Snobbery or A Rant Against Contrapuntalism

Does it ever bother you when someone does perfectly good research, writes a good sized book, and in order to sound "academic" attaches fancy (dumb) names to otherwise obvious categories or divisions?

Example: Samuel C. Heilman wrote a great book on American Orthodoxy entitled Sliding to the Right: The Contest for the Future of American Jewish Orthodoxy. In it he calls Haredim "enclavists" and Modern Orthodox Jews "contrapuntalists".

The "Social Scientist Writing a Book" Thought Process Deciphered:

1. MOs straddle the religious and secular world
2. Everyone knows this
3. I'm an academic
3. A fancy word that captures the idea of holding apparently opposing views at the same time is contrapuntalism
4. Therefore, MOs are contrapuntalists
5. Hey, everyone! I've made a great discovery! MOs are contrapuntalists! (Of course you never knew that!)

(Obviously "contrapuntalism" is not the point of Heilman's otherwise excellent book, but the thought process outlined above - particularly step 5 - is all too present in social science research and makes a definite appearance in Heilman's latest work.)

My Latest Skeptic Bookshelf Acquisition

Not as rare as some of my other titles, but it definitely makes a nice addition to my collection. Beautiful and tight binding.

Madonna Is Our Newest Ambassador!

Madonna "Like a Virgin" Louise Ciccone Ritchie just declared herself the latest "ambassador for Judaism". Ohr lagoyim... right.

The Samson Nazerite Vow in the 16th Century

So what's the difference between a Samson Nazerite and a Standard Nazerite?

1. A Samson Nazerite can become tamei met. A Standard Nazerite can't.
2. A Samson Nazerite can never cut his hair. A Standard Nazerite can do so when his hair becomes too heavy.

The BIG difference, however, is that the Samson Nazerite vow can never be abrogated. Hatarat nedarim won't do it. I can say, "I swear that I will be a nazir and I swear that I won't do hatarat nedarim and undo my previous swear... or this one... or this one...," but they can all be "unwound".

So in the 16th century we begin to find evidence of the Samson Nazerite vow being used to ensure fulfillment of a commitment. It's not clear why the vow's usage in this form only popped up then, but what is pretty evident is that some people were forced to keep their commitment - however much the rabbis tried to release them from their vows. Abu Zimri and Samuel de Medina are examples of rabbis who ruled strictly and held swearers to their words. It's less clear whether the rabbinic rulings were ever observed. (There is only a little evidence of Standard Nazerites really existing. See for example, Moses Trani writing in Shu"t Mabit.)

Interesting usage of the Samson Nazerite vow: There are a number of recorded instances where husbands used the Samson Nazerite vow to pressure their wives into allowing them to take second wives by vowing to become Samson Nazerites unless they consented.

Samuel Morell gives this topic an excellent treatment in his 1989 article in AJS Review, Volume 14, No. 2. Autumn, pp. 223-262. He does a fantastic job of addressing the legal hoops rabbis tripped through in their attempts to release would-be Samson Nazerites from their vows.

Sanity at Cross-Currents

A recent post by Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein at Cross Currents remarks that the Bible Codes are "probably without merit, and possibly dangerous."

Bravo!

Preview

As a preview to my next post, does anyone know what the difference is between a standard nazir (nazerite) and a nazir shimson (samson nazerite)?

No cheating!

Ancient Escape Tunnel Found

In a nod to the fundies, archaeologists recently discovered an underground drainage tunnel that was used as an escape route for Jerusalemites 2,000 years ago when they were attacked by the Romans. I like this extrabiblical stuff.

Check out the AP news story here.

What can we believe about Yetziat Mitzraim?

Putting aside the creation story, the most historically difficult event in Tanach is The Exodus. The historicity of The Exodus has been debated into the ground, and I don't intend to go into anything but a cursory explanation of my beliefs (and only if necessary), but yesterday I became curious as to what - from a traditional point of view - we are permitted to believe about Yetziat Mitzraim.

So I did what any reasonable person would do, which is ask Daniel, an intelligent and frum student in my existential philosophy class. (Daniel also happens to teach in a yeshiva).

Simply put, the biggest problem with the Exodus - ignoring the miracles - is the number of people involved. Whether directly or indirectly, the claim of 2+ million Jews leaving Egypt en masse, hanging out in the desert for 40 years, and then settling Canaan is not historically possible.

Many Bible scholars have commented on the word eleph, commonly translated as "thousand," arguing that the word really means something like "troop," "family unit," or "clan." Other scholars have pointed to a historical trend toward (very) systematic number inflation.

So my question to David yesterday was whether a traditional perspective allows for the belief that yetziat mitzraim occurred, but the word eleph has been consistently misinterpreted and only ~20,000 Jews left Egypt.

I'm not sure if Daniel really thought through what reinterpreting eleph would do to countless maamarei chazal (or whether he was just giving me a kiruvy response), but he said that as long as the "motivation" behind the reinterpretation is good, there is no problem. In a followup question Daniel confirmed that reconciling the Biblical narrative with "scientific" history was a fine motivation.

What kefira! Or is it?

Thoughts?

Where Does the Kefirah Go?

I have a very large book collection, recently got married and moved, and am in the process of organizing a couple of bookshelves in my living room and some others in my bedroom. Like most Jews, I plan on keeping a good amount of seforim in my living room, but now I have to figure out what to do with my books on biblical criticism, non-Orthodox Jewish movements, atheism (recall that for the record I am not an atheist), "radical" Jewish thought etc.

Do I put the kefirah-lite books out front and keep the rest in the back? (i.e. Marc Shapiro and Abraham Joshua Heschel go out front and Davies, Lemche, Finkelstein, etc. go in the back.) Should I keep all of the heresy in the back? All out front?

On the one hand I want intelligent guests to have a hint as to where I stand (arrogantly assuming that unintelligent guests won't care about my bookshelf), while on the other hand I want to remain a part of the community and not have people question my hashkafic (and food!) kashrut.

So that's today's big question: Where does the kefirah go?

("In the garbage!" is not an answer.)

Pluralism in Israel

Ha'aretz reports: "In contradiction to recommendations adopted by the Education Ministry in 1994, nearly all the organizations teaching classes on Judaism and Jewish identity at secular schools are doing so in an Orthodox spirit and not a pluralist one."

I find it fascinating that CJ & RJ have had such a tough time making inroads in Israel. Possible reasons why:

1. Israelis think that OJ is awesome (riiiight....)
2. Israelis care about tradition
3. Israelis don't come from a Western tradition of separation and classification

I (obviously) lean toward 2 & 3. Any other suggestions?

Dvar Torah: Moshe's Ego Trip

Can anyone tell me what Moshe was thinking when he called himself God in this week's parshah?

(Ok, fine. I have to be misinterpreting this, but I'm not sure how. It seems to be the poshut pshat that Moshe is speaking in the first person, referring to himself as "Hashem Elokeichem".)

וַיִּקְרָא מֹשֶׁה אֶל-כָּל-יִשְׂרָאֵל, וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם: אַתֶּם רְאִיתֶם, אֵת כָּל-אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה יְהוָה לְעֵינֵיכֶם בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם, לְפַרְעֹה וּלְכָל-עֲבָדָיו, וּלְכָל-אַרְצוֹ. הַמַּסּוֹת, הַגְּדֹלֹת, אֲשֶׁר רָאוּ, עֵינֶיךָ--הָאֹתֹת וְהַמֹּפְתִים הַגְּדֹלִים, הָהֵם. וְלֹא-נָתַן יְהוָה לָכֶם לֵב לָדַעַת, וְעֵינַיִם לִרְאוֹת וְאָזְנַיִם לִשְׁמֹעַ, עַד הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה. וָאוֹלֵךְ אֶתְכֶם אַרְבָּעִים שָׁנָה, בַּמִּדְבָּר; לֹא-בָלוּ שַׂלְמֹתֵיכֶם מֵעֲלֵיכֶם, וְנַעַלְךָ לֹא-בָלְתָה מֵעַל רַגְלֶךָ. לֶחֶם לֹא אֲכַלְתֶּם, וְיַיִן וְשֵׁכָר לֹא שְׁתִיתֶם--לְמַעַן, תֵּדְעוּ, כִּי אֲנִי יְהוָה, אֱלֹהֵיכֶם

(1) And Moses called unto all Israel, and said unto them: Ye have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land; (2) the great trials which thine eyes saw, the signs and those great wonders; (3) but the LORD hath not given you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day. (4) And I have led you forty years in the wilderness; your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot. (5) Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink; that ye might know that I am the LORD your God.