When someone learns about my profession as a rabbi, I am often asked: As a woman, how is your experience in comparison with your male colleagues?I graduated from rabbinical school in 2009. By then, already more than 30 years had transpired since the ordination of the first female rabbi in the Reform movement, almost 25 years in the Conservative movement. My answer about my experience as a female rabbi must not be answered with, “It was mostly smooth sailing.” My answer must include both the positive sentiments of my six years at the Jewish Theological Seminary and willfully acknowledge the blood, sweat and tears endured by the women before me, the turned backs, slammed doors and uphill battles fought so I could receive my ordination. Women yearning to speak so that my voice would be audible, accepted and heard.Midrash reminds us that the midwives went far beyond their defiance of Pharaoh. The midwives went to the homes of the children they saved, brought food and water in order to keep the mothers and children alive. They risked their lives to ensure the voices of Jewish children would be heard for generations to come.Our actions today don’t impact only our individual journeys. Our lives are products of those who came before us, a blended package of those willing to speak out and those who remained silent. Let us live with an eye toward the future, knowing that our purpose in this world may be actualized in generations to come.
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