In June 2018, we witnessed a momentous occasion as Vered Hillel and Isaac Roussel received rabbinical ordination. Vered is the first woman to receive s'mikhah from the MJRC. Below is an excerpt from our standards manual outlining our policy of ordaining women as Messianic Jewish Rabbis.
(Link from the Standards Manual)
In issuing this standard, the Messianic Jewish Rabbinical Council (MJRC) welcomes women to use their God-given spiritual gifts in our community as leaders, rabbis, and teachers.
Scripture contains a number of examples of women who hold significant roles in leading and shaping the life of the people of Israel and the early community of Yeshua's followers - Miriam, Deborah, Huldah, Esther, Junia (Romans 16:7), and Phoebe (Romans 16:1) to name a few. Scripture often describes these women as having significant positions of leadership within the community: judges, prophets, deacons, emissaries, etc. We regard these women leaders in the Tanach and Apostolic Writings as models rather than as exceptional cases reflecting communal disorder or the lack of men of sufficient caliber to serve as leaders in the community.
The Messianic Jewish Rabbinical Council (MJRC) consists of a group of ordained Rabbis and associated leaders who endeavor to promote a life of covenant faithfulness among Jewish followers of Messiah Yeshua.
Our core mission is to:
The Messianic Jewish Rabbinical Council (MJRC) was formally established in May 2006. It consists of a group of ordained Messianic Jewish Rabbis and associated leaders who share a common vision for Messianic Judaism rooted in Torah, instructed by Tradition, and faithful to Messiah Yeshua in the twenty-first century.
The MJRC had its beginnings five years earlier. At that time a set of Messianic Jewish leaders from New England invited some of their colleagues from outside the region to join them in working on a common set of halakhic standards for themselves and their congregations.