By Yonina Silverman
For one of our Tuesday night speakers, we had the privilege of hearing from Rabbanit Jenny Rosenfeld, the Rabbanit of Efrat. Rabbanit Rosenfeld broke the record in 2015 for being the first in the history of modern-day Israel to be appointed as the spiritual leader of an Orthodox Jewish community. She was appointed by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin to be in a position of female Jewish leadership for the Efrat Community.
Before hearing from Rabbanit Rosenfeld, the Nachshon fellows were not as clear as to what her job description was. After hearing from Rabbanit Rosenfeld’s life path, her yearning to be able to help as a community leader despite the fact that she was a woman, and the experiences that got her to her job today, it was easier to understand her day to day schedule. Some of the people she meets with on a daily basis are couples who are having marital issues, teenagers that are looking to expose their homosexuality to their parents or woman with Niddah questions. These are psychological issues that do not only have to be handled by a rabbi.
In addition to the meetings she has with community members, Rabbanit Rosenfeld also gives Torah classes during the week. After giving us a glimpse at her daily schedule she handed out pieces of paper and asked us to each write a question either about Halacha or about her job that we were interested in knowing the answer to. She then pulled question by question out of a hat and tried her best to answer all of them in a respectful and diligent manner. For halachic question, for example, one question was if a man who is openly gay be accepted in her community? Rabbanit Rosenfeld used sources to back up her answer. She was able to think of these sources right away and formulate a cohesive answer.
When asked about the acceptance of her role in her community, Rabbanit Rosenfeld answered that after she took the job, meetings with women of her community doubles. Before there was a woman leader, women might have been embarrassed to ask questions about their menstrual cycle to a rabbi, however, it was much easier for them to approach a woman.
Hearing from Rabbanit Rosenfeld was an eye-opening experience for me. Coming from an orthodox background, the idea of a woman leader of a community is very foreign. It was heartwarming to see a respected, capable woman breaking the trend and taking this position as a female leader. I hope that in years to come more communities recognize the importance of this female role and introduce this job to their communities as well. I also think it was important for the Nachshon fellows to hear from Rabbanit Rosenfeld because although many fellows do not plan on living an Orthodox life, it is important to see the progressions happening in all paths of Judaism and allow that to inspire everyone to support change and to fight for what they believe in.
