Rabba Yedida and the taxonomy of orthodoxy

In 2013, Rabba Rachel Kohl Finegold, one of the first graduates of Yeshivat Maharat—a trailblazing institution in the Orthodox world that ordains women clergy leaders—became the first Maharat hired as clergy at an Orthodox synagogue, Montreal’s 175-year-old Congregation Shaar Hashomayim. Fast forward more than a decade to June 2025, and Yedida Eisenstat carries on that mantle as a member of the class that brings the total number of Yeshivat Maharat graduates to 100.

What connects them? Eisenstat is one of the co-hosts of The CJN's podcast Not in Heaven, along with Rabbi Avi Finegold—Rabba Kohl Finegold's husband.

To celebrate newly minted Rabba Eisenstat's position, we discuss why she opted for the title of "rabba" in the first place—as opposed to rabbi, maharat or rabbanit—and the divisive history of women’s participation, learning and leadership in modern Orthodox Judaism. Each host also reflects on their own out-of-the box journeys to rabbinic ordination, whether their education focused on theory and halacha, or the nuts and bolts of rabbinic life.

Credits

• Hosts: Avi Finegold, Yedida Eisenstat, Matthew Leibl
• Production team: Zachary Judah Kauffman (editor), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)
• Music: Socalled

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