Maharat becomes Rabbah http://blogs.jta.org/ENTRY_PERMALINK_HERE/maharat-becomes-rabbah/ Avi Weiss’ office just issued a statement saying that Sara Hurwitz, who was ordained with the unusual acronym Maharat last year (shorthand for leader in legal, spiritual and Torah matters), would henceforth be known as “rabbah.” en-us bharris@jta.org Copyright 2010 2010-01-27T;21:56:00-05:00 Comment by Joel Katz joelakatz@gmail.com What’s interesting is that Sara Hurwitz was already using the title “Rabba” on her blog back on Dec. 29, 2009 ( see a tweet here: http://ow.ly/116xz ) PS. The article headline seems to be incorrect using the title “Rabbah” instead of “Rabba”. What’s interesting is that Sara Hurwitz was already using the title “Rabba” on her blog back on Dec. 29, 2009 ( see a tweet here: http://ow.ly/116xz )

PS. The article headline seems to be incorrect using the title “Rabbah” instead of “Rabba”.

]]> 2012-05-24T;14:04:00-05:00 Comment by leroy oakmont oakmontl@yahoo.com From a letter which appeared in the June 11 ‘letters to the editor” section of the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent.  . . There’s a Better Title to Honor Women ‘Rabbis’ . “ The title bestowed by the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale was the awkward Maharat, an artificial Hebrew acronym. I have a much better suggestion. The Hebrew letter bet (the letter “b") is the first letter of the first word of the first chapter of the first book of the Torah, Bereshit. It is, of course, about beginnings—the creation of something brand-new. Many midrashim comment on this, and on the significance of the bet. So why not take this “b” and affix it to the word rabbi, forming the neologism “BRAbbi”? It’s a perfect fit! Moreover, when considered against the backdrop of the overwhelmingly patriarchal and, indeed, androcentric nature of rabbinic/Orthodox Judaism, can one even remotely conceive of a more pointed, symbolic representation of an individual’s commitment to nourish, support, shape and uplift the system? For further research, naturally enough, the place to start is the Torah, in the portion called TITzaveh (Exodus: 28:20-30:10). S.R. Cohen Baltimore From a letter which appeared in the June 11 ‘letters to the editor” section of the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent.  . .

There’s a Better Title to Honor Women ‘Rabbis’
. “
The title bestowed by the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale was the awkward Maharat, an artificial Hebrew acronym.
I have a much better suggestion.

The Hebrew letter bet (the letter “b") is the first letter of the first word of the first chapter of the first book of the Torah, Bereshit. It is, of course, about beginnings—the creation of something brand-new.

Many midrashim comment on this, and on the significance of the bet.

So why not take this “b” and affix it to the word rabbi, forming the neologism “BRAbbi”? It’s a perfect fit!

Moreover, when considered against the backdrop of the overwhelmingly patriarchal and, indeed, androcentric nature of rabbinic/Orthodox Judaism, can one even remotely conceive of a more pointed, symbolic representation of an individual’s commitment to nourish, support, shape and uplift the system?

For further research, naturally enough, the place to start is the Torah, in the portion called TITzaveh (Exodus: 28:20-30:10).
S.R. Cohen
Baltimore

]]> 2012-05-24T;14:04:00-05:00 Comment by leroy oakmont oakmontl@yahoo.com From a letter which appeared in the June 11 2009 ‘letters to the editor” section of the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent.  . . There’s a Better Title to Honor Women ‘Rabbis’ . “ The title bestowed by the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale was the awkward Maharat, an artificial Hebrew acronym. I have a much better suggestion. The Hebrew letter bet (the letter “b") is the first letter of the first word of the first chapter of the first book of the Torah, Bereshit. It is, of course, about beginnings—the creation of something brand-new. Many midrashim comment on this, and on the significance of the bet. So why not take this “b” and affix it to the word rabbi, forming the neologism “brabbi”? It’s a perfect fit! Moreover, when considered against the backdrop of the overwhelmingly patriarchal and, indeed, androcentric nature of rabbinic/Orthodox Judaism, can one even remotely conceive of a more pointed, symbolic representation of an individual’s commitment to nourish, support, shape and uplift the system? For further research, naturally enough, the place to start is the Torah, in the portion called Titzaveh (Exodus: 28:20-30:10). S.R. Cohen Baltimore From a letter which appeared in the June 11 2009 ‘letters to the editor” section of the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent.  . .

There’s a Better Title to Honor Women ‘Rabbis’
. “
The title bestowed by the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale was the awkward Maharat, an artificial Hebrew acronym.
I have a much better suggestion.

The Hebrew letter bet (the letter “b") is the first letter of the first word of the first chapter of the first book of the Torah, Bereshit. It is, of course, about beginnings—the creation of something brand-new.

Many midrashim comment on this, and on the significance of the bet.

So why not take this “b” and affix it to the word rabbi, forming the neologism “brabbi”? It’s a perfect fit!

Moreover, when considered against the backdrop of the overwhelmingly patriarchal and, indeed, androcentric nature of rabbinic/Orthodox Judaism, can one even remotely conceive of a more pointed, symbolic representation of an individual’s commitment to nourish, support, shape and uplift the system?

For further research, naturally enough, the place to start is the Torah, in the portion called Titzaveh (Exodus: 28:20-30:10).
S.R. Cohen
Baltimore

]]> 2012-05-24T;14:04:00-05:00