Why we need women to lead
Probably because I happen to be the first Orthodox Jewish woman in America to be a publicly ordained rabbi, or rabba, people often ask me: “What unique value do female clergy bring to the table?” I have, for years, bristled at answering. I don’t like making generalizations based on gender. I came to my calling because I love and believe in it; I think I can do the work as well as men can.
Not all women are naturally more compassionate, organized and thoughtful, and not all men are more decisive, commanding and impulsive. Each and every person has his or her own unique skill set that they bring to the table, regardless of gender.
But the #MeToo movement puts that question that used to bother me in an urgent new light. In light of my experiences, I’m happy to answer, this way: We need more women in leadership positions not because they’ll do the job differently or better, but because of how their mere presence changes organizations’ cultures, in ways both large and small.
We are living through an important moment in the history of confronting gender inequality. Over the last few weeks, as more men are accused of sexual harassment and misconduct, I have noticed a common denominator: in male-centric environments, men in powerful positions are far more likely to become corrupt.
At a very basic level, sexual harassment is about unequal power relations between men and women and how that dynamic is exploited.
In a recent article in The Atlantic, Marianne Cooper asserts that placing women in leadership roles can reduce harassment — not because “women are somehow themselves preventing the behavior — in fact women too can be perpetrators — but that male-dominated organizations are more likely to have cultures characterized by aggressive and competitive behaviors and so-called locker-room culture.”
There is a simple math equation at play here: The more men are atop organizational pyramids, surrounded by women vulnerable to their decisions and their whims, the more likely that those men will take liberties with social mores and rules.
Instances of harassment and misconduct aren’t confined to one community, industry or group. We’ve seen it in entertainment, media, politics and corporate America.
And though it hasn’t yet been subjected to the same white-hot spotlight, at least not yet, the Orthodox Jewish community is also a male-dominated “locker room” where women are harassed, demeaned and marginalized.
When women are shut out of leadership positions, silenced — and, worse, made invisible — it is easy to objectify us.
The unique value female clergy bring to the table is the same unique value female CEOs, producers, senators, mayors and governors bring to the table: They force an overdue shift in our communal norms and standards.
I have seen this happen in my own work. When I began working at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale as a congregational intern in 2003, some people were more concerned with the way I dressed than with the way I spoke or taught.
My male colleagues had to adjust to sharing a pulpit with a woman. Some congregants even left the synagogue when I was ordained, despite there being no Jewish law that prohibits women from assuming clergy roles.
My experiences are shared by other ordained Orthodox women in leadership positions, who have told me stories of being marginalized or having crude and insensitive comments directed at them.
And yet, over the years, there have been countless times when a woman — or man — has thanked me profusely for being present for them, whether it was to discuss intimate topics of sexuality and mikvah use or more mundane topics of Jewish law and mourning and Shabbat. It wasn’t only the work I could do, but my presence that helped change the culture.
Just as more racially diverse workplaces make racially hostile workplaces less likely to flourish, having leadership teams that are not predominantly male, but are comprised of men and women alike, where we all demand that we are each our best selves, creates a sense of checks and balances in our moral and ethical standards.
Working with a woman in a leadership position has helped turn my male colleagues into stronger allies of women, and recognize and speak out against harassment.
Women are professionals in their own right and by breaking glass ceilings and being present every day, they defy stereotypes, shift communal attitudes and, in the most important ways, change hearts and minds.