Earlier this week I did one of those things I love. I had the opportunity to speak to a class from Judson University. They asked intelligent, thought provoking questions. Any time I do one of those, it enhances my understanding of my Judaism and helps me explain it not only to them, but to all of us. It also reduces anti-semitism. Not one of those kids had ever been in a synagogue before. They will most likely never forget being here. 

One of their questions seems relevant to today, Rosh Hodesh Adar 1 and Shabbat Mishpatim. Today is Rosh Hodesh Adar and it is when we begin to prepare for Purim which celebrates the heroism of Esther, a woman, Our preparations are well underway at CKI! And yes, we can find ways to Be Happy, It’s Adar even in the middle of this war. It is what is demanded of us. We are still happy, we are still celebrating the survival of the Jewish people even after all these years. Perhaps especially in the middle of war that threatens our very destruction. 

 The parsha today, Mishpatim, has more rules than any other parsha, hence the name Mishpatim, rules. There are three words, Mitzvot, commandments, Mishpatim, rules and hukim, statutes. Perhaps what they all are are obligations. How we set up a just, moral and ethical society. 

One of the Judson questions was what hurdles have I faced as a woman rabbi. Usually, I don’t think about it. By the time I was thinking about being a rabbi, there were already women rabbis. It never really occurred to me that I couldn’t be one. Now there are women rabbis in all the movements. Rabbi Sally Priesand was the first Reform woman rabbi. Rabbi Amy Eilberg was the first Conservative woman rabbi. Rabbi Sandy Sasso was the first Reconstructing woman rabbi and the same year I was ordained, Rabbah Sara Hurvitz was the first Orthodox woman rabbi. There are two other names you might want to know. Rabbi Regina Jonas was ordained in Berlin and then murdered at Auschwitz and Oznat Barzarni in Mosul 1590 who was the Rosh Yeshiva after her husband died. I stand on the shoulders of all of them nd am grateful for them. 

Another question the Judson students asked was what spiritual practice in Judaism do I engage in that means the most to me, With 613 commandments which we talked about last week I had to think hard. There are so many that are meaningful and what is meaningful to me may not be to some of you. That’s OK. I view spiritual practice as a way to connect with the divine. Sometimes that way changes. I finally came up  Shabbat dinner. I like converting my dining table to a mikdah ma’at, a little sanctuary. I like buying flowers, setting a beautiful table, preparing special food. I’m a little like the book Joseph who loved the Sabbath. I like welcoming guests and practicing hachnasat orchim, hospitality, The best book I read last year was Braided, the Journey of a Thousand Challahs. Here is this woman, a physician who felt her life was out of balance, Someone suggested that she start baking challah and handed her a recipe from a Mom and Me preschool challah baking class at the 92nd Street Y. The taking of challah is one of three commandments specifically incumbent on women The other two are shabbat candles and the laws of family purity and going to the mikveh, It all seems to fit together 

This day, Rosh Hodesh, is set aside to celebrate women as a special holiday for women. There are many heroes we have, Seven women prophets:  Sarah, Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, Huldah, Abigail, and Esther. There are other Biblical heroes we could add. Rachel and Leah, Rebecca, Hagar, Yocheved, Tziporrah, the daughters of Zelophefed, Ruth, and Shifra and Puah. 

Shifra and Puah were the midwives who delivered the baby boys under the threat of death when the Israelites were slaves in Egypt. They delivered Moses. Some say that maybe they were Yocheved and Miriam. Whoever they were, it took courage to do what they did. 

This week is known also as Repro Shabbat. All over the country rabbis and cantors are talking about the rights of women to healthcare, to contraception, to abortion. The rights of doctors to perform medically necessary procedures to save the life of the mother.  

I didn’t set out to be a woman rabbi, I just wanted to be a rabbi. But early on, I learned that I get questions that my male colleagues don’t get. I get questions about mikvah and menstruation, about rape and domestic violence, about breast feeding and weaning. And yes, contraception and abortion. Yes, there are answers to those questions from within a Jewish perspective.  

This week’s parsha has the beginning of the clues to this: 

When [two or more] parties fight, and one of them pushes a pregnant woman and a miscarriage results, but no other damage ensues, [the one responsible] shall be fined according as the woman’s husband may exact, the payment to be based on reckoning.  

But if other damage ensues, the penalty shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.’ 

From this, in today’s portion, the rabbis (all male) derive that it is permissible to have an abortion to save the life of the mother, Full stop. I can go through all the sources with you, as I have done before. Just two more: 

In cases of capital law, the Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi says with regard to that which is written: “If men struggle and they hurt a pregnant woman…and if there shall be a tragedy you shall give a life for a life” (Exodus 21:22–23), the reference is to a monetary payment for the life that he took. The tragedy referenced is the unintentional killing of the mother. (Sanhedrin 87b) 

Rav Ḥisda raised an objection to Rav Huna from a baraita: If a woman was giving birth and her life was being endangered by the fetus, the life of the fetus may be sacrificed in order to save the mother. But once his head has emerged during the birthing process, he may not be harmed in order to save the mother, because one life may not be pushed aside to save another life. If one is permitted to save the pursued party by killing the minor who is pursuing him, why is this so? The fetus is a pursuer who is endangering his mother’s life. The Gemara answers: This is not difficult, as it is different there, with regard to the woman giving birth, since she is being pursued by Heaven. Since the fetus is not acting of his own volition and endangering his mother of his own will, his life may not be taken in order to save his mother. (Sanhedrin 72b) 

This may surprise you, but I serve on the Community Leadership Board of a Catholic Hospital. When they first approached me, I was very clear. I was Jewish and a woman and a woman rabbi. I might not agree with them on abortion and birth control. They said that was precisely why they wanted me. I agreed. Now, it is important to note that hospital doesn’t have an OB-GYN group. When I was doing my CPE at a Catholic Hospital in Boston, there was a young woman who came to the hospital after having an abortion in New Hampshire. The doctors had missed that it was an ectopic pregnancy and she was bleeding out. The hospital I was interning in, did was a medically necessary and appropriate. This young Protestant woman in a Catholic hospital wanted me, the Jewish chaplain to assure her she wasn’t going to hell. I did the best I could but I always wonder what happened to her. These days in some states she could have died.  

My religion is very clear. The life of the mother for physical or even mental reasons comes before the life of the potential life.  

I am grateful that we live in Illinois where despite the overturning of Roe v Wade, it is still a right here. I am never sure for exactly how long that right can be guaranteed. It requires vigilance on our parts. I also know that these choices are incredibly painful and need to be done in consultation with your physician, and your partner and trusted advisors 

Let me be clear. I work for access to health care services for all. I will sit with a couple and discuss a range of options for contraception, for IVF, for abortion, for keeping a child, for pregnancy and birth, for preganancy loss, for fostering a child, for hysterectomies or vasectomies, for breast feeding and breast cancer, for rape and sexual assault, for the whole range of “women’s health” for whatever the couple or the woman herself, by herself, is concerned about. I will make the appropriate referrals as necessary. The challenges to me being a woman rabbi are great. But the challenge of just being a woman are greater. May we all live to see a world where women’s stories and concerns are believed, where the health care of men and women are treated equally and equitably. Ken yihi ratzon.