International Rabbinic Fellowship

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The International Rabbinic Fellowship (IRF) is a Modern Orthodox rabbinical organization founded by Rabbis Avi Weiss and Marc D. Angel in 2007. [1] [2] [3] The group is open to Orthodox rabbis, including graduates of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah and Yeshivat Maharat, and is the only Orthodox rabbinical association to admit women rabbis as members. [1] The group's current president is Rabbi Yonah Berman and its Executive Director is Rabbi Jason Herman.

Contents

Overview

IRF began as a fellowship of Orthodox rabbis and spiritual leaders with a more open and accessible view of Orthodox Judaism. [4] [5] The IRF views itself as a counterpart to the Rabbinical Council of America and is one of the main association of Modern Orthodox rabbis. [6] [7] In 2018, the association reportedly consisted of approximately 250 members. [8] The differentiation of the positions held by the IRF from those held by other Orthodox associations have led some to point to the irrelevance of denominational labels in contemporary Judaism. [9] Alternatively, the IRF is evidence of a shifting trend, within modern Orthodoxy, away from fundamentalism. [10]

The IRF supports the ordination of women and their role in the clergy [11] and since 2012 has admitted female members. [7] Prior to this decision, in December 2010, the group had voted against such a proposal. [12] [13] The IRF supports the use of a halachic prenuptial agreement, and in 2012 the group passed a resolution stating that member rabbis may only officiate a wedding if the couple has signed such an agreement. [14]

Publications

References

  1. 1 2 "Conference Explores the Teaching and Work of Rabbi Irving (Yitz) Greenberg". March 27, 2016.
  2. ↑ "International Rabbinic Fellowship – Press Release". Jewish Journal. November 26, 2009.
  3. ↑ "International Rabbinic Fellowship". Int'lRabbinicFellow. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  4. ↑ Waxman, C. I. (2016). Adam S. Ferziger. Beyond Sectarianism: The Realignment of American Orthodox Judaism. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 2015. 352 pp. AJS review, 40(1), 214-216.
  5. ↑ International Rabbinic Fellowship, Homepage, https://www.internationalrabbinicfellowship.org/
  6. ↑ Claussen, G. (2019). Two Orthodox Approaches to Vulnerability and the Exodus Narrative: The Stranger in the Writings of Irving Greenberg and Meir Kahane. Studies in Judaism, Humanities, and the Social Sciences, 2(1).
  7. 1 2 Joffe, L. F. (2016). The impact of “foreign law” bans on the struggle for women’s equality under Jewish law in the United States of America. In Women's Rights and Religious Law (pp. 179-201). Routledge.
  8. ↑ 10th Anniversary of International Rabbinic Fellowship, Marc D. Angel, Jewish Ideas, https://www.jewishideas.org/blog/10th-anniversary-international-rabbinic-fellowship-blog-rabbi-marc-d-angel
  9. ↑ Phillips, B. A. (2011). A Demographer Considers the Twenty-First Century. CCAR Journal: The Reform Jewish Quarterly.
  10. ↑ Turetsky, Y., & Waxman, C. I. (2011). Sliding to the Left? Contemporary American Modern Orthodoxy. Modern Judaism, 31(2), 119-141.
  11. ↑ "IRF Statement | IRF Reaffirms Its Perspective on Women's Leadership Roles in Orthodoxy". Int'lRabbinicFellow. Retrieved 2021-03-26.
  12. ↑ Grossman, L. (2013). Jewish Communal Affairs. In American Jewish Year Book 2012 (pp. 113-142). Springer, Dordrecht.
  13. ↑ Rosenblatt, Gary (11 Jan 2011). "Liberal Orthodox Rabbinic Group: No Women Members". The New York Jewish Week. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  14. ↑ "IRF Statement | International Rabbinic Fellowship Takes Historic Step to Prevent Future Agunot". Int'lRabbinicFellow. Retrieved 2021-03-26.
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