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Someone raised the issue of women in leadership positions and I was curious what your perspective is (sorry if I missed an earlier response, I can't keep up with the pace of this thread). The reason I ask is that Rabbi Johanna Hershenson, who is the rabbi of Congregation Beth Sholom, is the first female rabbi to work full time for a Jewish congregation in Alaska. We had a community wide religious service here in Anchorage shortly after 9-11, which involved leaders from a number of congregations, and I was surprised to see a female rabbi. Is this very common?

I was surprised to see a female rabbi. Is this very common?

More common in Reform Judaism. Conservative Judaism began to allow female rabbis in the mid-1980s, but there aren't yet very many of them. Orthodox Judaism does not and never will ordain women as rabbis. I agree with the Orthodox on this. Even aside from the scriptural and traditional arguments against ordaining women, the practical consequences have not demonstrated that this is a good idea. Maybe there is not a strong correlation between the ordination of women and doctrinal heterodoxy, but it sure seems that way.