International Rabbinic Fellowship

The International Rabbinic Fellowship (IRF) is a group founded by Rabbis Avi Weiss and Marc D. Angel in 2007[1] and soon elected Rabbi Barry Gelman as its president.[2] The group is open to graduates of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah. The group's current president is Rabbi Nathaniel Helfgot. The group is noted for being the only Orthodox rabbinical association to admit women rabbis as members.[1]

Overview

IRF began as a fellowship of Open Orthodox rabbis and spiritual leaders. It is commonly perceived as a left-wing organization for those ineligible to join the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA),[3] and it admits female members, takes a liberal stance toward the ordination of women and their role in the clergy, homosexuality, conversion and certain ideological beliefs.[4] Notwithstanding the group's admitting of women clergy to their membership, IRF had avoided directly endorsing the ordination of Orthodox Jewish women.[5]

IRF members have sought innovative positions on the issue of Agunot (women denied a divorce), however, the IRF itslef has not adopted these stances."[6]

Publications
  • "Halakhic Realities: Collected Essays on Organ Donation" (ed. Zev Farber). Maggid Books, 2017. ISBN 9781592644070
  • "Halakhic Realities: Collected Essays on Brain Death" (ed. Zev Farber). Maggid Books, 2016. ISBN 9781592644063

References
  1. "Conference Explores the Teaching and Work of Rabbi Irving (Yitz) Greenberg". March 27, 2016.
  2. "International Rabbinic Fellowship – Press Release". Jewish Journal. November 26, 2009.
  3. David Berger. "The Rabbinical Council of America and Yeshivat Chovevei Torah: A Response to Rabbis Avi Weiss and Asher Lopatin". Retrieved 2017-05-16.
  4. "IRF Reaffirms Its Perspective on Women's Leadership Roles in Orthodoxy |". www.internationalrabbinicfellowship.org. Retrieved 2017-05-16.
  5. "Courting Controversy, Orthodox Rabbis Address Women's Leadership, Conversion". Jewish Journal. July 13, 2010.
  6. "IRF's Wide Range". February 5, 2014.
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