Breaking the glass ceiling is not a new trend

Professor Ross Kraemer explains one of the most timeless debates in history

The Rosh Hodesh Committee: Cheryl Greenfeld Teverow (chair), Kit Haspel, Toby London, Professor Ross Kraemer, Judy Levitt, Judy Robbins, and Maybeth Lichaa (not pictured: Barbara Sheer, Marcia Hirsch and Sherry Cohen). /Hillary SchulmanOn April 23, more than 40 community members gathered at the Jewish Alliance for a Women’s Alliance Rosh Hodesh luncheon presentation by Brown University’s Professor Ross Kraemer. The topic: women’s roles in ancient synagogues.

Cheryl Greenfeld Teverow, chair of the Rosh Hodesh series, kicked off the program with stories reminding the audience where programs such as Rosh Hodesh come from – the Jewish Alliance Annual Campaign.

 The funds raised through the campaign each year support overseas and local needs, providing quality programs and imperative social services, as well as allowing Jewish youth, both local and abroad, to develop and nurture a Jewish identity.

Kraemer, professor of religious studies and Judaic studies, then took the podium and began to explain certain inscriptions found in ancient synagogues. She showed some inscriptions that used the word for “head of the synagogue” in a masculine form but were used for a female. This brought up the question: how involved were women in antiquity, and were these ancient Jewish communities more progressive than we thought?

The discussion was poignant and engaging, as the trend of trying to break the glass ceiling for women still applies in today’s world. Kraemer interspersed personal anecdotes to make her linguistics-based discussion more relevant, such as how she was rejected from rabbinical school because it was “better she become a rebbetzin.”

The conclusion of the discussion resulted in different answers. As every Jewish community is different, each “head of the synagogue” was defined differently. Women could either be actual heads of the synagogues, or they were referred to as such because of their fathers or their husbands.

From these ancient communities, we are reminded that just because you are female, does not mean that you cannot accomplish great things. The women behind our ancient communities began to pave the road for those who came after them, and we will continue to do so for our future generations.

For more information on Rosh Hodesh programs, or to become more involved in the Women’s Alliance, contact Trine Lustig, vice president of philanthropy at tlustig@jewishallianceri.org or 401-421-4111, ext. 223.

HILLARY SCHULMAN is a Development Associate in Philanthropy for the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.