Rabbi Natasha Mann | |
|---|---|
 Rabbi Natasha Mann | |
| Personal life | |
| Born | 17 January 1991 Hertfordshire, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Rabbi and theologian |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Judaism |
| Denomination | Conservative Judaism |
| Jewish leader | |
| Predecessor | Rabbi Louis Jacobs |
Rabbi Natasha Mann (born 17 January 1991) is a rabbi of New London Synagogue in the United Kingdom, which is affiliated to Masorti Judaism. She is the first openly queer rabbi in a traditional Jewish denomination in Europe. [1]
Rabbi Mann was born in Hertfordshire, England, to non-Jewish parents. Her mother is English and her father is Indian, her paternal grandparents are Muslim and Sikh. [1] She began to take an interest in Judaism after Jewish ancestry was mentioned at a relative's funeral. [1] Mann converted to Judaism at the age of 19 at New London Synagogue under Rabbi Jeremy Gordon. [1] She obtained her undergraduate degree in Theology at Heythrop College, University of London. [2]
Mann then attended the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles, which is affiliated to Conservative Judaism. She also worked for AJU as a mashgiach, a kashrut supervisor, for two years. Rabbi Mann was ordained in 2019 by Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson. At graduation, Mann was also awarded the Henry Fisher Award for Outstanding Achievement in Jewish Studies. [2]
Masorti Judaism (known as Conservative Judaism in North America) 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. Masorti Judaism is the third-largest Jewish religious movement worldwide, estimated to represent close to 1.1 million people under the umbrella movement Masorti Olami.
At the time of her entering rabbinic school, the Masorti movement in the UK was not egalitarian and the only female Masorti/Conservative rabbi, Rabbi Daniella Kolodny, a United States citizen and the first female rabbi to serve in the United States Navy, was not employed by a congregation. Rabbi Mann and Rabbi Zahavit Shelev were the first British Jewish women to be ordained as rabbis in the Masorti movement. As a someone who identifies as mixed race, Rabbi Mann was also the Masorti movement's first rabbi of colour.
Rabbi Mann is also the first Masorti rabbi to identify as queer. Speaking at an international panel session of LGBT+ Masorti/Conservative rabbis, Rabbi Mann commented,
"I didn't go through what I think a lot of people going through, which is worry what would happen when they told their parents they weren't straight. ... I'm very accustomed to being in between spaces: I am a convert to Judaism, I am a mixed-race individual, and I date people regardless of what their gender is. I think I missed out on a lot of the angst to do with it." [3]
Rabbi Mann is currently employed by New London Synagogue, the same synagogue through which she converted to Judaism and the founding synagogue of the Masorti movement in the UK in 1985. She also supports NOAM, the Masorti UK youth movement, and serves as rabbi to Hatch End Masorti Synagogue on a part-time basis.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mann co-authored the halachic teshuvah for the introduction of "set and forget" passive livestreaming of services on behalf of the Masorti movement in the UK. [4] Traditional Jewish law forbids the use of technology on Shabbat and festivals. Mann argued, relying on previous rulings on abortion, that the emotional distress caused by isolation on Shabbat and festivals due to social distancing requirements, permitted leniency even around biblical laws. [5]
Conservative Judaism, also known as Masorti Judaism, is a Jewish religious movement that regards the authority of Jewish law and tradition as emanating primarily from the assent of the people 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 subject of homosexuality and Judaism dates back to the Torah. The book of Vayikra (Leviticus) is traditionally regarded as classifying sexual intercourse between males as a to'eivah that can be subject to capital punishment by the current Sanhedrin under halakha.
The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ) is the major congregational organization of Conservative Judaism in North America, and the largest Conservative Jewish communal body in the world. USCJ closely works with the Rabbinical Assembly, the international body of Conservative rabbis. It coordinates and assists the activities of its member communities on all levels.
Shlomo Moshe Amar is the former Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel. He served in the position of Rishon LeZion from 2003 to 2013; his Ashkenazi counterpart during his tenure was Yona Metzger. In 2014 he became the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem.
Keshet Rabbis is an organization of Conservative/Masorti rabbis, cofounded in 2003 by Menachem Creditor, which holds that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Jews should be embraced as full, open members of all Conservative congregations and institutions. Based on its understanding of Jewish sources and Jewish values, it asserts that LGBT Jews may fully participate in community life and achieve positions of professional and lay leadership.
Reform Judaism, formally the Movement for Reform Judaism (MRJ) and known as Reform Synagogues of Great Britain until 2005, is one of the two World Union for Progressive Judaism–affiliated denominations in the United Kingdom. Reform is relatively traditional in comparison with its smaller counterpart, Liberal Judaism, though it does not regard Jewish law as binding. As of 2010, it was the second-largest Jewish religious group in the United Kingdom, with 19.4% of synagogue-member households. On 17 April 2023, Reform Judaism and Liberal Judaism announced their intention to merge as one single unified progressive Jewish movement. The new movement, which may be called Progressive Judaism, will represent about 30% of British Jewry who are affiliated to synagogues.
Jacqueline Hazel "Jackie" Tabick is a British Reform rabbi. She became Britain's first female rabbi in 1975. She retired in 2023 as convenor of the Movement for Reform Judaism's Beit Din, the first woman in the role, and until its closure in 2022 was also Rabbi of West Central Liberal Synagogue in Bloomsbury, central London.
Conservative Judaism views halakha as normative and binding. The Conservative movement applies Jewish law to the full range of Jewish beliefs and practices, including thrice-daily prayer, Shabbat and holidays, marital relations and family purity, conversion, dietary laws (kashrut), and Jewish medical ethics. Institutionally, the Conservative movement rules on Jewish law both through centralized decisions, primarily by the Rabbinical Assembly and its Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, and through congregational rabbis at the local level. Conservative authorities produced voluminous Responsa literature.
Criticism of Conservative Judaism is widespread in the Orthodox Jewish community, although the movement also has its critics in Reform Judaism and in other streams of Judaism. While the Conservative movement professes fidelity to Jewish tradition, it considers Halakha to be a dynamic process that needs reinterpreting in modern times. The criticism by Orthodox Jews and traditionalists within the movement itself revolves around the following:
Sexual orientation has been a pivotal issue for Conservative Judaism since the 1980s. A major Jewish denomination in the U.S., Conservative Judaism has wrestled with homosexuality and bisexuality as a matter of Jewish law and institutional policy. As with other branches of Judaism debating the acceptability of sexual orientations other than heterosexuality, Conservative Jews faced both long-standing, rabbinic prohibitions on homosexual conduct as well as increasing demands for change in the movement's policies toward gays, bisexuals, and lesbians. Previously, the Conservative movement had changed its policies toward women, for example, by allowing the ordination of women as rabbis in 1983. Similarly, the Conservative leadership has been asked to stop discriminating against gay, bisexual, and lesbian people. This goal has been partially completed with the approval of the ordination of gay, bisexual, and lesbian rabbis in 2006 and of same-sex marriage ceremonies under Jewish law in 2012; However, the Conservative decision did not call same-sex marriages kiddushin, the traditional Jewish legal term for marriage, because that act of consecration is nonegalitarian and gender-specific. In the traditional kiddushin ceremony, a pair of blessings is recited and the bridegroom gives his bride a ring, proclaiming that he is marrying his bride “according to the laws of Moses and Israel.”.
According to halacha, the operation of a motor vehicle constitutes multiple violations of the prohibited activities on Shabbat. Though Jewish law is based on texts that were written long before the existence of the automobile, when driving one performs various actions which the texts specifically prohibit.
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.
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.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) affirming denominations in Judaism are Jewish religious groups that welcome LGBTQ members and do not consider homosexuality to be a sin. They include both entire Jewish denominations, as well as individual synagogues. Some are composed mainly of non-LGBT members and also have specific programs to welcome LGBT people, while others are composed mainly of LGBT members.
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, Italy, 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.
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Sandra Lawson is an American rabbi and the first director of Racial Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Reconstructing Judaism. She previously served as Associate Chaplain for Jewish Life at Elon University. Lawson became the first openly gay, female, and black rabbi in the world in 2018. She is a veteran, vegan, sociologist, personal trainer, food activist, weightlifter, author and musician.
New London Synagogue is a Masorti Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in St John's Wood, in the City of Westminster, London, England, in the United Kingdom.
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.
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