BOB ABERNETHY: Earlier in our program, we reported on the increasingly acrimonious debate between ultra-Orthodox Jews and those who belong to other branches of the faith. Generally speaking, Orthodox Jews believe in a much stricter interpretation of Jewish law, or halakha, than Reform or Conservative Jews. This is particularly true when it comes to the role of women and their responsibilities in synagogue life. Our Cover Story this week is about Orthodox women and the small steps they're taking toward a religious participation they haven't had for thousands of years. Our correspondent is Mary Alice Williams.SHARONA M. HALICKMAN (Congregational Intern): How many commandments are there in the Torah?
Unidentified Woman: Six hundred and thirteen.
Ms. HALICKMAN: Exactly. Six hundred and thirteen.MARY ALICE WILLIAMS: What you are looking at is a revolution, an innovation in Orthodox Judaism, and it's embodied in this 24-year-old. Sharona Margolin Halickman has broken through a gender barrier unbreached for 5,000 years. She is one of the first women to serve in a professional role like this in a Orthodox synagogue. Her title is Congregational Intern. She is not a rabbi, but she's darn close.
Ms. HALICKMAN: It's just great to see, you know, how far we've come.
WILLIAMS: In a year.
Mr. HALICKMAN: Yes, it's really -- I never believed -- in my dreams I never believed it.
WILLIAMS: Though Sharona Halickman is highly educated in Judaic text, law, and philosophy and a doctoral candidate, she had few professional options in an Orthodox synagogue. While women are serving as rabbis in the three other major Jewish denominations, Orthodoxy considers it a violation of Jewish law, halakha. In Orthodox synagogues, a woman is separated from the men by the mehitza, a barrier between the genders. She can't lead prayer services or read from the Torah with men.
Rabbi Avi Weiss has taught and championed women for 29 years.
Rabbi AVI WEISS (Hebrew Institute of Riverdale): I do not believe that there is any halakhic barrier which would prevent a group of women from coming together in a women's prayer group, studying Torah on the same quantitative or qualitative level as men, and I do not believe that there's any halakhic barrier to having women serve as Torat Meriam -- congregational interns -- leading ultimately to the shaping of a unique role where women become Moratanim, the honorific title for teacher.
WILLIAMS: Rabbi Weiss, whose own teacher, Nacham Leibowitz, was the most acclaimed Torah scholar of her day, created Torat Meriam, the program that trains Orthodox women, including Sharona.
Rabbi WEISS: Because it's never been seen doesn't mean that it's wrong. We're living in modernity, and if, in fact, the quest of women to become more involved in spiritual leadership is in consonant with Jewish law, then that is something that I think should be embraced and should be applauded.
WILLIAMS: The congregational internships are not applauded by everyone. Some Orthodox rabbis see them as an incremental end run on halakhic prohibitions.
Rabbi MOSHE FASKOWITZ (National Council of Young Israel): What we've always learned is that it starts very innocently, very quietly and eventually -- there's an agenda here, and eventually what will happen is this internship will grow into a different kind of position, and it will be a different job definition, and it will include those areas in which women are absolutely prohibited.
BLU GREENBERG (Orthodox Feminist): It's through learning, it's through the study of rabbinic text and that has been -- that's the real revolution, that has been open to women in the last generation. The route to rabbinic ordination has been open. Women in what is approaching -- soon approaching a critical mass of learned women are saying to themselves, "Yes, we qualify, too. Why not us?"
Rabbi FASKOWITZ: We've always believed that when you create a certain breach in the tradition, and you kind of take apart the traditional roles that have been assumed, that's going to lead inevitably to far, far greater deviations from traditional roles.
Ms. GREENBERG: They're serving in roles which other women will look at and say, "Well, this looks like a rabbi, teaches like a rabbi, preaches like a rabbi, and maybe one of us maybe going through the ordination route."
