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From Power Plays to Purposeful Paths | Women’s League for Conservative Judaism

By Julia Loeb, WLCJ International President

From Power Plays to Purposeful Paths

It’s the end of June, and to quote the famous Gershwin tune, it’s “summertime and the livin’ is easy.” Many of our Affiliates have wrapped up their spring programs and are looking forward to a few quieter months. Some members may be on vacation and might miss this week’s reading of Parashat Korach, a cautionary tale that begins with conflict and ends with the ground shaking beneath a fractured community.

Korach, Moses’ cousin, challenges the leadership of Moses and Aaron, claiming that “all the community is holy.” (Numbers 16:3) While his words sound inclusive, his intent is self-serving. Korach doesn’t seek to lift others, he wants to elevate himself.

The result? Collapse, chaos, and the loss of trust. A stark lesson in what happens when leadership is rooted in ego rather than purpose.

But what happens when bold action is rooted in purpose?

For that, we need to look to a different kind of challenge to the status quo, one that reshaped the Jewish world not with noise or ambition, but with moral clarity, courage, and deep commitment to tradition and community.

In 1972, a group of Jewish feminists, many of whom were raised in the Conservative movement, called Ezrat Nashim (“the help of women”) presented the Rabbinical Assembly of the Conservative Movement with a groundbreaking document titled Jewish Women Call for Change. It called for full inclusion of women in Jewish religious life, including to be counted in a minyan, serve as witnesses, study Torah, and ultimately, to be ordained.

Their demands didn’t come from a desire to overturn tradition, but from a refusal to accept second-class status in the community they cherished. Their call wasn’t about personal power. It was about shared purpose. Though controversial at the time, their persistence planted the seeds of change that have transformed Jewish leadership.

In recent weeks, Women’s League members have learned about these ground-breaking women in Chancellor Shuly Rubin Schwartz’s Mathilde’s Master Class (https://wlcj2.org/u/?M1c6482k) and Part 4 of our archives program, A League of Our Own (https://wlcj2.org/u/?Y1c6482l). We saw that unlike Korach, Ezrat Nashim didn’t tear the community apart. They pushed it forward.

In many ways, their story mirrors the work of Women’s League and our Sisterhood Affiliates. We do not seek power for power’s sake. We seek inclusion, dignity, opportunity, and the chance to help shape the future of Jewish communal life.

This year, our members have led with purpose—organizing programs, mentoring, raising funds, studying Torah, advocating for Israel, and building spiritual homes. We’ve earned trust, not demanded it. We’ve expanded the circle, not narrowed it.

As we enter the new month of Tammuz this week, a time that begins with summer brightness but leads us toward reflection and mourning, may we be especially mindful of how we use our voices and our power, and as we plan for the year ahead, let us carry the lessons of Parashat Korach: to lead with humility, collaborate and speak with care, and act with sacred purpose.

May the spirit of Ezrat Nashim continue to guide us, as we build a future where every woman’s voice is heard, every leader is nurtured, and every Jewish woman knows she is not only welcome, but essential.

Shabbat shalom,

Julia Loeb
WLCJ International President
jloeb@wlcj.org

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