Women Who Would Be Rabbis

Tapping archival records, Nadell (Jewish studies, American U., Washington, DC) introduces a century of contenders (e.g. Ray Frank, the 19th century "girl rabbi of the golden West"), their male advocates, and the continuing debate over the question posed by Mary M. Cohen in 1890: "could not our women be ministers?" With the 1984 ordination of the first Conservative female rabbi, the author dares to ask "will there be Orthodox women rabbis?" Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.