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I was tasked with writing a piece about “Women Religious and Spiritual Leaders”. This is not about women who are leaders who are religious, or about female deities – but about women who had or are having a leadership role within their religious tradition. My research reminded me once again about the male hierarchy in religious circles. Nonetheless, from ancient times to now, we women have raised our voices and our prayers in leadership. Here are some “new women” I’d like you to meet -- women who have made an impact in surprising ways, or women whom time has almost let us forget. I have only chosen a few from each major religious tradition. Feel encouraged to add your choices to the comments section!
JUDAISM
Deborah, a prophetess and a "judge" had more of the role of a godly counselor and deliverer than the courtroom judges of modern times. As a compassionate woman, (she is called "a mother in Israel") living in the hills not far north of Jerusalem, she must have become aware of the suffering and hardship of her people who lived in Galilee. No doubt she was responsible for uniting her people in the hill country and helping to raise a small standing army. As a judge she helped people make wise choices in their lives in the absence of prominent godly leadership among the people. Her life is an enduring example of God's willingness and ability to use a devoted woman (or man) to change the course of history and bring about a great military victory. Though the problems must have seemed insurmountable, Deborah saw the need of Israel, knew of the promises of God, and made herself available to Yahweh. It was God who had the exact plan for the hour. All that was required was obedience and courage.
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"Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappodoth, was judging Israel at that time. She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment," (JUDGES 4:4-5).
Miriam was Aaron and Moses's older sister. According to some sources, she was seven years older than Moses, but other sources seem to indicate that she was older than that. Some sources indicate that Miriam was Puah, one of the midwives who rescued Hebrew babies from Pharaoh's edict against them (Ex. 1:15-19).
Miriam was a prophetess in her own right (Ex. 15:20), the first woman described that way in scripture
According to ritualwell.org, "A Miriam's Cup is a new ritual object that is placed on the seder table beside the Cup of Elijah. Miriam's Cup is filled with water. It serves as a symbol of Miriam's Well, which was the source of water for the Israelites in the desert. Putting a Miriam's Cup on your table is a way of making your seder more inclusive. It lets people know that at your table, the words of girls and boys, women and men, are welcome. It is also a way of drawing attention to the importance of Miriam and the other women of the Exodus story - women who have sometimes been overlooked but about whom our tradition says, "If it wasn't for the righteousness of women of that generation we would not have been redeemed from Egypt" (Babylonian Talmud, Sotah 9b)."
HENRIETTA SZOLD
When she finally realized that she could never give full expression to her energies if she stayed within the sphere allowed her within male-led Jewish organizations, she founded one of her own. And the members of Hadassah took up the challenge raised and modeled by Henrietta Szold, showing that women could indeed change the Jewish world.
In 1909, at age 49, Szold traveled to Palestine for the first time and, as historian Michael Brown observes, "found her life's vocation: the health, education and welfare of the Yishuv [the pre-state Jews of Palestine]." … Contributions from Hadassah funded hospitals, a medical school, dental facilities, x-ray clinics, infant welfare stations, soup kitchens and other services for Palestine's Jewish and Arab inhabitants. Szold persuaded her colleagues that practical programs open to all were critical to Jewish survival in the Holy Land. Regardless of the changes in Israeli politics and population since 1948, Hadassah still follows this philosophy.
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HINDUISM
The Hindu women leaders I discovered (thanks in part to our CE, Snigdhasen) ard all women who would fit the Western notion of guru -- they are
