Photographic Evidence
May 22, 2008 | Filed Under Blog |It’s in writing, even:

Fresh from the RabbiTron. Maybe someone that’s not my husband got some good pics of the actual Beit Din itself. It was pretty cool.

And yes, a full 30 seconds after they declared me a rabbi and handed me my ordination certificate, I was making silly faces at my family. After all, it’s rabbinic ordination, not a personality lobotomy.

“it’s rabbinic ordination, not a personality lobotomy”
… Is it?
Anyways, Hazaq uBarukh, and I look forward to learning from Rabbi Ruttenberg!
Comment by B.BarNavi — May 23, 2008 #
mazel toyv rabbi dernya and rebbetzin nir russneberg on this momentous occasion. chazak v’ematz!
it’s said that for generations the jewish people have lacked righteous leaders with vision. i say we’re just gettin’ started over here.
here’s to a redemptive future!
Comment by mobius — May 26, 2008 #
does this mean that the Conservative Movement uses the title ‘rav’ gender-indeterminately? i remember seeing a female reform rabbi on TV in israel who used ‘rabba’
i need to know this for when a few of my friends graduate JTS in a few years
Comment by Steg (dos iz nit der šteg) — June 5, 2008 #
Steg–
Technically in Hebrew “raba” is correct, and partic. for the lady rabbis in Israeli culture, that can be a way of trying to either be more integrated/accepted in the culture or preferred for more personal reasons.
I, for one, even in Hebrew, prefer “rav” or “rabbi.” When people ask, I reply that there’s no “doctorit” or “profssorit’ in Hebrew, and that I’d prefer my professional pronoun also not to be gendered (I think in both Hebrew and English, “rav” has a certain feeling and connotations that “rabah” will never, ever approach). But we already knew that I was on the quirky side–ask each individual lady rabbi what she’d like to be called.
Comment by danya — June 5, 2008 #
I only missed a month or two of this blog, and I came back to see — poof! — you’ve rabbinated at long last. It must be true, it’s in writing! Mazal tov on this auspcious occasion.
Comment by Uri Cohen — June 18, 2008 #