A Single Rabbanit?

As previously discussed; everyone agrees that Rabbis are male, right? And so the great debate arose amongst liberal jewry on what to call the anomaly of a female rabbi in hebrew.

I once heard someone referred to as "Reb Jill." The conservative movement insisted that a woman rabbi was a rav. As in "הרב תעביר דרשה".  The Liberal Orthodox came up with a number of obscure phrases, such as "congregational intern," and then "Maharat (an acronym of something for other)." But it seems the Reform movement won out in the end with their most grammatically correct "Rabbah." Of course they beat out the bunch because they had the following Biblical prooftext supporting them: "רבות בנות עשו חיל, והטלית על כולנה".

But all these women candidates for female religious leadership had one thing in common. They all agree that they are not Rabbaniyot.

And that's too bad.

Traditionally, the Rabbanit is the Hebrew word for the Rabbi's wife. In Yiddish she is known as Rebbetzin. There is also a long forgotten Ladino word for the Rabbi's wife- the Rubisa.

Her role could include many things, some intellectual, some spiritual, depending on her temperament, but all agree that involves making endless vats of chicken soup (for the Rebbetzin) or various filled pastries and vegetables (for the Rubisa). Rebbetzins, Rabbaniyot, or Rubisas, from wherever they hailed, traditionally exercised their role as complentary community leader, by engaging in Hessed and hospitality. Although an extroverted and charasmatic personality could be helpful, being a Rabbanit requires no credentials, save one: Being married to a Rabbi.

Today's Rabbah sees her role as an intellectual and spiritual one, even if she also likes to cook on the side. More importantly, today's Rabbah wants professional respect in her own merit, not her husbands.

But by rejecting the term Rabbanit; a term known and respected by most communities; the Rabbah cuts herself off from traditional society, limiting herself to a liberal Jewish bubble. Which is fine; if that's where she wants to be; but not so fine if she is a Traditional Sephardi Feminist. But beyond that; the liberal Rabbah cuts herself off from thousands of other Rabbaniyot of the past; who led their communities in the only way that was available to them. Whats to be gained by declaring ourselves different than they? Why not emphasize the continuity between us and them?

One sticky problem may be part of the reason. The part about being married to a Rabbi. Well perhaps there is some flexibility there. Today, in the traditional Orthodox world, there are Rabbaniyot (thinking of Yemima Mizrahi, beforehand Esther Jungreis) who have great following, who no one actually knows who their husbands are. The husbands do hold some sort of ordination that they can whip out in the event that anyone checks, but quite likely just having a beard is enough.

But what about a single woman? Can a single woman claim the title Rabbanit? This is perhaps the stickiest question of all.  In a world where marriage is the  most important marker of adulthood, can a single woman claim to even be equal, much less a leader?