Yoatzot Halacha - What They Are Really About

About three or four years ago, when I still belonged to a certain shul in Los Angeles that was on its way to going the way of the Yeshivish Chareidi, chumras and all, the rabbi of the shul went up to give his Shabbos Drasha. Now, usually, these drashas are supposed to be divrei Torah that deal with that week's parasha and maybe even tie in the parasha to current events. The best reason, and my favorite, I've heard for rabbis being very dliigent in giving a drasha every shabbos, or in their absence, making sure someone else did, was that for many people, this was the only time they had any kind of learning during the entire week. B"H, this is no longer the case for most people, but the "Mesora" goes on.

That week, Rabbi S, as we'll call him, stepped up to the lectern and began railing against this group of women who have decided to bypass all the rabbanim who have spent years, sometimes even a decade or more, learning for their semichas in Yoreh Deia and Mar'os, and paskin halacha for women who have Niddah questions (or, in the vernacular, Shailos). These women, he said, are overturning the system we've had in place for years! They are paskining halachah that took rabbanim years to learn! This is the danger of such institutions as Nishmat (from which arose this organization) and evil women like "Rabbanit" (read quotaion marks in his words, not mine) Henkin and her ilk!

The women against whom Rabbi S railed are known as Yoaztot Halacha. Their orzanization exists solely to help women with Nidda questions.

Rabbi S went on for about twenty minutes, making it very clear what he thought about this organization and these women. Unfortunately, he made a big mistake. He should have checked his facts before making accusations that women are becoming rabbis and are undermining the authority of rabbanim worldwide. His facts were wrong, and the loshon hara he accepted unquestioningly and relayed with the utmost confidence as truth was false and was meant only to put these women in a false light.

You see, my wife went to Nishmat and when I asked her about Yoatzot Halacha, she had nothing but good things to say about them. She said they are a wonderful, anonymous organization to which women who are otherwise embarrassed to ask these types of questions may turn and ask their questions anonymously, without any embarrassment at all. This is an organization for women who might otherwise not ask the questions they need to ask. It is an organization that prevents so many people from transgressing the extremely severe sin of having marital relations while still a Niddah! And, most importantly, my wife told me, these women, no matter how knowledgeable, never, EVER take halacha into their own hands and never, EVER answer a question without first consulting with one of the many rabbanim on staff and telling those rabbanim, without ever revealing the identity of ther person asking the question, in minute detail exactly what each situation is.

The way the organization works is that a woman will call in, ask her question, and will be asked specifics about her case. Armed with this information, they will then relay the question and all its details to a rav who is an expert in this area. If the rav needs more information, he will tell the Yoetzet what information he needs. The Yoetzet will call the woman back, ask these questions, and will go back to the rav with the additional information. The rav, always making sure he has the information he needs, will then make an informed decision and will instruct the Yoetzet exactly what to say. The Yoetzet will then call the woman back with the answer to her question. At no time will a Yoetzet just answer a question without first consulting a rav. Further, if the woman prefers, the Yoetzet Halacha will even contact that person's rav and ask him the question! Hence, no rav's authority is threatened and no power is being taken from any rav.

Finally, are these women any different than a rebbetzin was in the old days in Europe? When a women in the shtetl had a question along these lines, she didn't go speak to the rav! She asked the rav's wife, who asked her husband! How is this any different?

So, this puts a totally different light on what a Yoetzet Halacha does! She is not interested in undermining rabbinic authority or in becoming a rabbi herself. That's silly. The entire purpose of this organization is simply to help women who would otherwise be embarrassed to ask this type of question. One must then ask: How many people have been saved from commiting a grievous sin because of these amazing women? Was it really worth wasting an entire Shabbos Drasha railing against something for which Rabbi S had faulty information at best? This Rabbi S of Los Angeles went and ruined the reputation of an organizatoin that does vast amounts of good for Klal Yisrael, all based on false accusations!

Once again, I say and truly believe, Rabbis need to know what they are talking about before they open their mouths, be it to give advice or to talk about organizations about which they really know nothing, or anything else, for that matter. Many rabbanim have a great power in their hands - they have their Kehillas collective ears and can influence them greatly. They should know all their facts before saying anything. It is not only the right thing to do, it is their responsibility and if they can't be bothered to be responsible for, then they should also not bother or be bothered to be rabbanim because when they don't act responsibly, they are no better, as I've mentioned before, than a butcher trying to perform surgery with a cleaver.

B"H for these Yoatzot Halacha. May we be zocheh to many more such women in our communities who help to make sure couples do not commit, b'shogeg or b'meizid, such a grievous aveira.

For more information about Yoatzot Halacha, click here to visit their website.