Einat Ramon

Last updated
Einat Ramon
Born
Einat Ramon

1959
Nationality Israeli
Occupation(s)Teacher, lecturer
Known forFirst Israeli-born woman rabbi who had left the rabbinate and became Orthodox.

Einat Ramon (born 1959) [1] was the first Israeli-born woman to be ordained as a rabbi. [2] She was also the first woman and the first sabra to head a Conservative rabbinical school, specifically the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary in Jerusalem, where she was dean from 2005 to 2009. [1] [3] Since 2011 she no longer identifies as a rabbi, heads the Marpeh training program for spiritual caregivers in Jerusalem, and teaches modern Jewish thought and Jewish feminism at the Schechter Institute. [2]

Contents

Biography

Ramon was ordained in 1989 at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. [3] [4] Following that, she acted as interim rabbi at Berkeley Hillel and earned a doctorate in religious studies from Stanford University. [1] She worked as the “circuit” rabbi for Congregation Har-Shalom in Missoula, Montana before returning to Israel in 1994. [4]

Ramon served as dean of the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary in Jerusalem from 2005 to 2009. During that time she opposed the ordination of homosexual rabbis at Schechter and same sex marriage in the Conservative Movement, which prompted a falling-out with the North American Masorti seminaries that had just begun ordaining homosexual rabbis. [5]

She is the author of the book A New Life: Religion, Motherhood and Supreme Love in the Works of Aharon David Gordon , and has contributed to the book New Jewish Feminism: Probing the Past, Forging the Future. [2] She has also published articles on modern Jewish thought, Jewish feminism and Zionist intellectual history. [4]

In 2011 she left the Conservative Movement and the rabbinate due to ideological disputes. She no longer considers herself a rabbi. Her affiliation is that of a modern Orthodox Jew. [6]

Since 2006, Dr. Ramon has been active in the clinical pastoral care movement in Israel. She has been involved in setting up the first clinical pastoral education unit in Israel, participating in the network and later the association of spiritual caregivers in Israel as the writer the ethical code for Israeli spiritual caregivers and the professional standards for training Israeli chaplains. In 2011 she had set up the only Israeli academic program specializing in Jewish spiritual care at the Schechter Institute.

Personal

Ramon is married to Rabbi Arik Ascherman, an American-born Reform rabbi and human rights activist

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conservative Judaism</span> Jewish religious movement

Conservative Judaism is a Jewish religious movement that regards the authority of Jewish law and tradition as emanating primarily from the assent of the people and the community through the generations, more than from divine revelation. It therefore views Jewish law, or halakha, as both binding and subject to historical development. The Conservative rabbinate employs modern historical-critical research, rather than only traditional methods and sources, and lends great weight to its constituency when determining its stance on matters of practice. The movement considers its approach as the authentic and most appropriate continuation of halakhic discourse, maintaining both fealty to received forms and flexibility in their interpretation. It also eschews strict theological definitions, lacking a consensus in matters of faith and allowing great pluralism.

The Rabbinical Assembly (RA) is the international association of Conservative rabbis. The RA was founded in 1901 to shape the ideology, programs, and practices of the Conservative movement. It publishes prayerbooks and books of Jewish interest, and oversees the work of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards for the Conservative movement. It organizes conferences and coordinates the Joint Placement Commission of the Conservative movement. Members of the RA serve as rabbis, educators, community workers and military and hospital chaplains around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jewish Theological Seminary of America</span> Religious education organization located in New York, New York

The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) is a Conservative Jewish education organization in New York City, New York. It is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism and a major center for academic scholarship in Jewish studies. The Jewish Theological Seminary Library is one of the most significant collections of Judaica in the world.

Jules Harlow is a Conservative Jewish rabbi and liturgist; son of Henry and Lena Lipman Harlow. He was born in Sioux City, Iowa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Golinkin</span> American-Israeli Conservative rabbi

David Golinkin is an American-born conservative rabbi and Jewish scholar who has lived in Jerusalem since 1972. He is President of the Schechter Institutes, Inc., President Emeritus of the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies and Professor of Jewish Law at the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, Israel.

Jewish feminism is a movement that seeks to make the religious, legal, and social status of Jewish women equal to that of Jewish men in Judaism. Feminist movements, with varying approaches and successes, have opened up within all major branches of the Jewish religion.

Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies, located in the Neve Granot neighborhood of Jerusalem, is an Israeli academic institution.

Reuven Hammer was an American-Israeli Conservative rabbi, scholar of Jewish liturgy, author and lecturer who was born in New York. He was a founder of the "Masorti" (Conservative) movement in Israel and a president of the International Rabbinical Assembly. He served many years as head of the Masorti Beth Din in Israel. A prolific writer in both the Israeli and international press, he was a regular columnist for The Jerusalem Post's "Tradition Today" column. He lived in Jerusalem.

The Leadership Council of Conservative Judaism, also known as the LCCJ, is a council made up of members of the various arms of the Conservative movement, a formal movement within the Jewish denomination of Conservative Judaism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women rabbis and Torah scholars</span>

Women rabbis are individual Jewish women who have studied Jewish Law and received rabbinical ordination. Women rabbis are prominent in Progressive Jewish denominations, however, the subject of women rabbis in Orthodox Judaism is more complex. Although Orthodox women have been ordained as rabbis, many major Orthodox Jewish communities and institutions do not accept the change. In an alternative approach, other Orthodox Jewish institutions train women as Torah scholars for various Jewish religious leadership roles. These roles typically involve training women as religious authorities in Jewish Law but without formal rabbinic ordination, instead, alternate titles are used. Yet, despite this alteration in title, these women are often perceived as equivalent to ordained rabbis. Since the 1970s, over 1,200 Jewish women have been ordained as rabbis.

The first openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender clergy in Judaism were ordained as rabbis and/or cantors in the second half of the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Masorti Olami</span> International Jewish organization

Masorti Olami is the international umbrella organization for Masorti Judaism, founded in 1957 with the goal of making Masorti Judaism a force in the Jewish world. Masorti Olami is affiliated with communities in over 36 countries, representing with partners in Israel and North America close to two million people worldwide, both registered members and non-member identifiers. Masorti Olami builds, renews, and strengthens Jewish life throughout the world, with efforts that focus on existing and developing communities in Europe, Latin America, the former Soviet Union, Africa, Asia, and Australia. More than 140 kehillot (communities) are affiliated with Masorti Olami in Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, the Czech Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Germany, Honduras, Hungary, India, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Uganda, Ukraine, Uruguay, the United Kingdom and additionally, more than 600 in Canada and the United States and over 80 communities in Israel. All of Masorti Olami's activities are conducted within the context of the overall Conservative Judaism movement, in close cooperation with its affiliated organizations in North America and Israel. The current Executive Director is Rabbi Mauricio Balter.

Valerie Stessin is the first woman to be ordained as a Conservative rabbi in Israel, as well as the first woman to be ordained by the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies; she was ordained in 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of women rabbis</span>

This is a timeline of women rabbis.

Gesa Ederberg is a German rabbi; she became the first female pulpit rabbi in Berlin in 2007 when she became the rabbi of the New Synagogue, Berlin in the former East Berlin. Her installation as such was opposed by Berlin's senior Orthodox rabbi Yitzchak Ehrenberg.

David James Lazar is United States-born rabbi-educator, and Rabbi at Or Hamidbar in Palm Springs, California. He has served communities in Israel and Europe for more than 30 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ohr Torah Stone</span>

Ohr Torah Stone (OTS) is an international Modern Orthodox movement that aims to develop Jewish life, learning, and leadership. The organization is led by Rabbi Dr. Kenneth Brander. In 1983 OTS was founded by Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Riskin. As of 2020 OTS included 27 educational institutions under its auspices.

Simchah Roth was an Israeli rabbi and scholar who edited the first prayer book of the Masorti movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mauricio Balter</span> Conservative Judaism leader (born 1957)

Rabbi Mauricio Balter is the executive director of Masorti Olami, the international umbrella organization of the Masorti/Conservative Judaism Movement and MERCAZ Olami, the Movement's Zionist and political arm. As a representative of the Masorti/Conservative Movement, Balter is one of the 37 Directors of the Jewish National Fund and sits on the Education and Community Committee, as well as the Resource Development Committee. Rabbi Balter is founder and member of the Forum for Jewish Renewal in the Negev and founder of the Negev Interfaith Initiative Dialogue. Rabbi Balter serves as an executive member of the World Zionist Organization, a member of the board of governors of KKL-JNF, Keren HaYesod and the Jewish Agency for Israel.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Berman, Daphne (30 June 2006). "Sabra Einat Ramon named to head Masorti's Schechter seminary". Haaretz .
  2. 1 2 3 Goldstein, Elyse; Diamant, Anita (2008). New Jewish Feminism: Probing the past, forging the future. Jewish Lights Publishing. p. 218. ISBN   978-1-58023-359-0.
  3. 1 2 "Schechter Rabbinical Seminary: Dr. Einat Ramon". The Schechter Institutes. 2009. Archived from the original on 28 April 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 "Einat Ramot". Jewish Women's Archive. 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  5. Wagner, Matthew (15 March 2009). "Schechter seminary dean not opting for additional term". The Jerusalem Post . Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  6. Sommer, Allison Kaplan (2012-10-10). "Rabbis in Waiting". Haaretz. Retrieved 2017-07-13.

"Certification for the first "spiritual Care Provider Group," JPOST, 11.07.2013,