BySimon Rocker, Simon Rocker
Masorti rabbis debated how far the movement should embrace egalitarianism at a study day attended by 250 people at the New North London Synagogue in Finchley.
The participants included 90 guests from Europe, Israel and the United States who had come to the UK for the second Masorti Europe conference.
At an "ask the rabbi" session, the only female panellist, Rabbi Gesa Ederberg from Berlin, urged greater egalitarianism. "If we are desperate for leadership to create a Masorti Judaism for the 21st century," she asked, "how can we then decide not to have 50 per cent of our potential be able to become rabbis and leaders?"
No female rabbi currently occupies a Masorti pulpit in the UK and synagogues vary over the extent of women's participation. The New North London has both traditional and egalitarian minyanim. European Masorti Beit Din head Rabbi Chaim Weiner argued it was important to keep options open.
Masorti has 27 communities in nine European nations with "clear evidence of growth and commitment" across the continent, said Masorti Europe president Gill Caplin, an NNLS member.