A Rabbah by any other name….

By Sarah Breger A few weeks ago a woman's title, but not her duties, changed. Maharat Sara Hurwitz, a member of the religious leadership  at a modern Orthodox synagogue in Riverdale became Rabba Sara Hurwitz at the same synagogue. This set off a firestorm in the Orthodox community, perhaps because of the close relationship of the term,  Rabba to Rabbi, which according to many is what Sara Hurwitz is. The ultra-Orthodox group Agudath Israel of America denounced Rabbi Avi Weiss, head of the Riverdale synagogue  who had conferred both the title of Maharat and then of Rabba on Sara Hurwitz, followed by rumblings that the centrist Rabbinical Council of America may expell him as well. However this Friday, to paraphrase one blogger, the rabbot were put back in the hat. The RCA and Weiss came to an...

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