A woman's angle

Ordination changeseeeeeeea gender pattern on family's paternal side

SM/SL View--Rabbi Yocheved Mintz (CQ) teaches Marijane Fredericksen at her home, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2005.--View Photo Christine H. Wetzel

Yocheved Mintz had her eye on a specific career long ago. It took decades of social and religious change before she could attain it.

"As a young child, you often dream of being many things," she said. "I had four things I wanted to be: a teacher, an actress, a rabbi, a trained white horse. At that time, I had as much chance of becoming a rabbi as I did a trained white horse."

She went on to become an educator, teaching in both secular and non-secular schools. She is the co-founder and director of Education Emeritus of the Moadon Kol Chadash in Chicago as well as a past consultant to the Judaica department of the Milton I Schwartz Hebrew Academy of Las Vegas.

Times change; people's views change. Last year, at age 63, Mintz realized her goal from those days as a child. She is now an ordained rabbi --- the only woman in 17 generations of rabbis on her father's side. The movements within the Jewish community of the 1970s and 1980s made it possible for her, and hundreds of other women, to hold the position.

She earned the title at the Academy for Jewish Religion, California, a trans-denominational seminary for the training of rabbis, cantors and chaplains. Studies there meant commuting to Los Angeles from her home in Eagle Hills every week.

Her husband, Dr. Alan Mintz, supported his wife's desire to return to school and become a rabbi. After all, she supported him through medical school.

But just when her goal was coming within reach, it was almost snatched away from her. In her senior year, Mintz learned she had breast cancer. She was diagnosed in October and underwent 11 hours of surgery on New Year's Eve. It was, she joked, the only time her husband stayed up to greet the new year.

The double mastectomy was followed by a course of chemotherapy, then reconstruction. She credits the health crisis with further cementing her connection with God.

"I discovered the power of people's prayers," she said. "The person for whom you're praying feels it viscerally, believe me."

She said she believes those prayers enveloped her "like a cocoon" as she went into surgery. She also said those prayers were part of the reason she was able to continue commuting to Los Angeles for classes, finish her thesis and complete her internship. Now 64, she said the danger is past.

Daniel Friedman, cantor at Temple Beth Sholom, said when he first met Mintz, he was struck by her kindness and gentle quality. He said when she taught, she had a way of making Torah easy to understand.

"I don't look at a rabbi as a male or a female," he said. "I look at how they approach the Torah and teach the Torah. Each person brings their own experiences to the pulpit. A woman brings a different richness and depth to it, different than a man's."

These days, Mintz is a frequent guest rabbi at congregations throughout the West and Midwest. She conducts religious classes for youth and adults in her Summerlin home, limiting the sessions to six people.

She also does volunteer work, such as assisting Straight From the Streets, an advocacy group for the homeless.

Nearly every day begins with prayers at the synagogue.

"I tease my husband," she said, referring to the fact that he frequents 24-Hour Fitness. "I say, 'I go to God's gym, you go to Gold's Gym.' "

Mintz plans to be instrumental in creating an agency for Jewish education. It would help all teachers in Jewish education obtain more in-service training, make resources available and provide networking opportunities.

Mintz also would like to see a hands-on museum for children with a focus on Jewish culture and history.