Women Rabbis in the Knesset: Parashat VaYigash

It was over 45 years ago that I celebrated my Bat Mitzvah on this Shabbat, at Kehillat Eshel Avraham, in Beer-Sheva. The first bat-mitzvah of our synagogue, we were meeting in the library of a technical high school, and would have to move our Aron Kodesh, our Ark, from the closet in the back of the room to the center as we set up for Shabbat services each week. It was at this Bat Mitzvah, and in leading Kabbalat Shabbat services a few weeks later, that I knew in my heart I was going to be an ordained rabbi when I grew up. The dream never really faltered, and here I stand, having been ordained in 1995, some 30 years ago.   

This week, the Knesset’s Committee on Diaspora Affairs, Aliyah and Absorption convened a special session marking the 90th anniversary of the ordination of Rabbi Regina Jonas, the first woman to be ordained as a rabbi in modern Jewish history. Chaired by MK Rabbi Gilad Kariv, the forum brought together leaders from across the Jewish denominational spectrum to highlight the contributions and ongoing role of women in rabbinic and halakhic leadership in Jewish life. The session intended to affirm the legacy of Regina Jonas, emphasize the importance of pluralistic approaches to Jewish leadership, and advance the conversation about gender equity and inclusion in Jewish religious structures both in Israel and the Diaspora. Participants included many Israeli women rabbis, dear colleagues from across the Reform and Conservative/Masorti movements, including, Rabbi Talia Avnon; Rabbi Dikla Druckman-Sherzer; Rabbi Chaya Rowan Baker; Rabbi Dalia Marx. What a joy, this week in particular, to see so many Jewish leaders in Israel as these rabbis are, convene in the Knesset to discuss their rabbinate. Each woman stands here on her own right as a leader, together they embody social change and powerful communal transformation.   

Looking back this same week at by bat mitzvah, when my dreams were in their infancy, I reflect on the words I chose then to teach as my dvar Torah to celebrate the day. I focused on the actions of Joseph as he prepares to go meet his beloved father, Jacob. It is one of the more poignant reunions in the Torah. The text says:  

“And Joseph made ready his chariot and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen; and he presented himself unto him, and he fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while.”
Breishit / Genesis 46:29 (JPS translation) 

Rashi on Genesis 46:29 explicates:
“הוּא עַצְמוֹ אָסַר אֶת הַסּוּסִים לַמֶּרְכָּבָה לְהִזְדָּרֵז לִכְבוֹד אָבִיו.”
which literally emphasizes that “he himself bound the horses to the chariot in order to hasten to honor his father .” 

We can interpret the phrase “Joseph made ready his chariot” to mean that Joseph himself harnessed the horses to his chariot out of eagerness to honor and hasten to meet his father, Jacob. This stresses Joseph’s personal agency and initiative rather than a mere delegation of the task to servants.  

This detail may sound small: a chariot, horses, harnessing. But it is the detail that speaks volumes about intentional action and personal responsibility. Joseph could have remained distant, commanding others to prepare the way. Instead, he physically prepares his own path to his father. 

This is a powerful metaphor. When we seek reconciliation, when we seek repair, when we seek transformation, whether it is personal, communal, or national, it begins with each of us taking responsibility to act first. 

For many of us, myself in particular, this moment celebrated in the Knesset this week would have seemed unlikely when I had my bat mitzvah in Be’er Sheva in 1980, at Eshel Avraham, long before women were being ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary, and were not yet being ordained by any denomination in Israel. This same week just as we heard that Orthodox women who are halakhic dayanot, arbitrators of Jewish law, were suing to be allowed to sit for the rabbinic tests in Israel and be recognized in Israel as part of the rabbinic workforce.   

The very notion that a woman rabbi, not only in Israel but acknowledged in the Knesset, would be part of the Jewish leadership landscape would have been hard to imagine then. Yet here we are, years later, seeing that transformation unfold and dialogued and celebrated. Yes, we are far from women rabbis being part of the religious landscape of Israel, but it is a dream we can imagine is attainable, if not today, perhaps tomorrow.  

Joseph’s act of preparing his own chariot reflects a perspective on leadership that is deeply individualistic: he does not wait for others to act; he does not delegate the moment of reunion. He prepares the vehicle of his own redemption. Rashi’s emphasis teaches us that Joseph’s intimacy, urgency, and personal investment were what mattered most in this moment. There was great intentionality in each action taken. This resonates with a leadership instinct many of us know well: the call to step forward personally, to lead at the front lines, to blaze a trail for others. But there is another dimension to transformation that isn’t captured solely by one person’s car, no matter how grand or purposeful. Real, sustainable change rarely, if ever, is accomplished by a single individual acting alone. 

When we look at organizational change, especially social and educational change, contemporary research emphasizes that sustainable change depends on collective leadership and shared agency. Scholars of collective leadership argue that change emerges when identities, practices, and commitments are woven together within networks of people acting relationally and inclusively. 

The educator and organizer Bell Hooks reminds us that transformative change — especially around issues of justice and equity — rarely comes from a singular leader alone. In her work she states: change requires grassroots organizing, collective empowerment, and solidarity across diverse communities working together for justice and equality.   

Joseph in fact harnessed his own chariot. However, he had a team who kept his wheels oiled, who tended regularly to his horses, who repaired the blankets on it. Welders who torch the pipes and monitor movement; the woodworking team who designed the body. The lead player, Joseph, had a team, and the collaborative work, as Bell Hooks describes it for our modern day society, requires a nurturing inclusive process, building coalitions, sharing leadership, and sustaining momentum through collective, shared action. 

In other words, the work of building lasting change is not a lone chariot ride. It is a convoy of hearts and minds moving together. 

Joseph’s act in harnessing his chariot to meet his father stands as a powerful symbol of personal initiative, readiness to serve, and immediacy of connection. It teaches us to prepare ourselves intentionally for the work of reconciliation and heed our moral responsibilities without waiting for others. 

But organizational and societal change, whether in Jewish tradition, in Israeli society, or within our own communities, teaches us something complementary: real transformation is not just about the one who prepares the chariot; it is about recognizing those who lay the groundwork, and nurturing the many who join the way. 

Parashat VaYigash invites us to reflect on the balance between individual readiness and collective movement. Like Joseph, we are called to prepare: to act with intention, urgency, and personal responsibility. But like the evolving story of Jewish leadership and social change today, we know that our journeys are joined, that the work of change and belonging is best achieved when our efforts converge. 

May we be inspired by this Joseph to prepare our own chariots, our own hearts and commitments, and be inspired by my colleagues in Israel to build shared paths that lead us together toward compassion, pluralism, and communal flourishing.