Rights of Jewish women among issues on agenda

Stacy J. Willis

Thursday, April 22, 1999 | 11:09 a.m.

At Temple Beth Sholom in Las Vegas, there are at least three women who want a religious divorce from their husbands but cannot get it.

Their husbands won't allow it.

Under current interpretation of Jewish law in the Conservative branch of Judaism, a woman cannot get a "get" -- a religious divorce -- if her husband doesn't consent. She may get a legal divorce, but if she remarries and has children, those children will be considered illegitimate.

"We have a problem. Women are chained to their husbands, and we are trying to figure out a way for women to pick up and go about their lives," said Rabbi Felipe Goodman of Temple Beth Sholom, a Conservative Jewish synagogue with more than 400 members.

This weekend, Goodman has invited a nationally renowned Jewish leader from New York to speak on the issue of women's rights in a Jewish divorce.

Rabbi Mayer Rabinowitz, who wrote a key paper in 1984 that partially led to allowing the ordination of women as rabbis in Conservative Judaism, will speak to Las Vegans this weekend at The Hebrew Academy in Summerlin.

Rabinowitz is the chairman of the Joint Bet Din of the Conservative Jewish movement, an organization, which interprets Jewish law regarding marriage and divorce. Members of the Conservative Jewish movement believe they are bound by Jewish law.

"The Talmud can be very sexist," Goodman said. "It is a very traditional text. In the times that we live in today, we really need to start changing our interpretation of it. Life is not the same as it was 1,500 years ago. For women especially, we need to recognize that."

Rabinowitz is also the head librarian of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, where he oversees a $700 million collection of rare Jewish writings. Rabinowitz will conduct Kabbalat Shabbat services on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. He also will speak on "Issues in Jewish Law That Confront the Jewish Community Toward the 21st Century" at 9:30 a.m. Saturday and on "Women's Rights in Jewish Religious Divorce" at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

All of the appearances will be at the Hebrew Academy, 9700 W. Hillpointe Road. A separate 4-day Jewish conference in Las Vegas this weekend will feature Marlene Edith Post, national president of 500,000-member Jewish volunteer organization Hadassah.

The Hadassah Women of the West conference will run from today through Sunday at the Orleans hotel-casino and will offer a lengthy roster of international guest speakers in addition to Post. Founded in 1912, Hadassah is a women's Zionist organization that promotes unity of Jewish people through educational programs in the United States and Israel.

Scheduled speakers at the Las Vegas Hadassah conference include Swiss bank guard Christoph Meili, who saved Holocaust banking documents from destruction; Susan Kahn, research director at the International Research Institute on Jewish Women; and Middle East commentator Dr. Sabi Shabtai.

Las Vegas resident and philanthropist Dr. Miriam Adelson and historian Gerda Weissman Klein will be receiving Distinguished Achievement Awards from Hadassah at the weekend events.