Equality struggles spark deep divisions - The Jewish Chronicle

In February, it seemed, a compromise had been reached when the Israeli government agreed to extend the Wall plaza to accommodate a new pluralist section for non-Orthodox services. But the new section has yet to materialise and by the end of the year tensions around the Wall were rising again. Egalitarianism in one form or another has been the dominant issue. America’s central Orthodox rabbinate reiterated its opposition to the ordination of women, whether they were called rabbi, rabbah or any other name. At home, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis inaugurated a programme for women educators to give them a greater role in communal life: the students, specialising in the laws of family purity and women’s health, will earn the newfangled title of “ma’ayan”. But the Chief Rabbi continued to face pressure from the spread of partnership minyanim, Orthodox-style services where women can lead certain prayers and read from the Torah. Despite their being ruled beyond the United Synagogue pale, a number of PM groups are holding regular services on Shabbat every few weeks in different locations around London. When one rabbi introduced sanctions against PM leaders on his patch, the Chief Rabbi attempted to dampen controversy by making it clear that taking part in a PM should not automatically disbar a person from involvement in United Synagogue activities; at the same, he gave the local rabbinate discretion to act as they saw fit. The first group of students in the Chief Rabbi’s new Ben Azzai programme set off for India this week, to educate them about the challenges of poverty and development in the wider world. Reform’s new “inherited status” policy, approved in 2015, came into effect at the beginning of the year. No longer will the child of a Jewish father but non-Jewish mother be required to convert; instead, if they can prove sufficient Jewish involvement, they can have their Jewish status regularised by the Beth Din. The acceptance of patrilineality has brought Reform into line with its sister movement in America and with Liberal Judaism here. The first shutafut — partnership ceremonies for same-sex couples — have been held in British Masorti, further differentiating it from Orthodoxy. Meanwhile, the senior rabbi of the Spanish and Portuguese Sephardi Community, Rabbi Joseph Dweck, continued to consolidate his reputation as a speaker across the community; it has led some to speculate that if the Chief Rabbi were to retire, he would be a natural successor.