Ì¢‰âÒSee, we have this little problem in the liberal Jewish world. We assume that anyone who's Jewishly invested must be on the rabbinical track....Ì¢‰âÂå

ItÌ¢‰âÂèÏs a little more than that, but not entirely unrelated. I know a woman, whose career was not rabbinical, but, when she stepped up to lead services, and the choir, and the etc., at a then rabbi-less Reform synagogue, she became the de facto rabbi. The congregation continued their rabbi search apace, but an outside observer would see her in the Reform shul and conclude Ì¢‰âÒfemale rabbi.Ì¢‰âÂå Even thoÌ¢‰â‰㢠the various synagogue religious duties were sÌ¢‰â‰ã¢posed to be rotated among the knowledgeable Jews, few others took the responsibility and the yoke fell on my friend.

Also, when I started grad school, folks would walk into the local Hillel and if they had never met the rabbi and they saw me first, they would frequently assume I was the rabbi because I had a beard and was wearing a kippah or other hat. I was amused; the rabbi was not.

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