Rabbi haperson: “We need to make sure people hear that there is no such thing as the one religious perspective or the one faith perspective on reproductive rights.'
spoke with Rabbi Person on the role of faith-based leaders in 2020, the importance of the separation between church and state, and her passion for advocating for reproductive justice and women’s rights.
: As the first woman to serve as top leader of a legacy institution of the reform movement, what kinds of obstacles did you face and how did you overcome them?Obstacles are a current reality for me each day in my role. To overcome some of these obstacles, I’ve had to learn to speak up loudly to ensure my voice doesn’t get drowned out by men. Some of it is also internalized. I’ve had to teach myself to not apologize or worry about what others might think when I speak my mind, and to not listen to that voice inside my head telling me to be a “good girl.” Sometimes leadership means saying no, or making hard or unpopular decisions, and when you’re taught as a girl to be nice and to be acquiescent, it can be hard to unlearn those behaviors. It may sound funny, but being a short woman doesn’t help. I’ve had to learn to be a forceful presence and own whatever space I’m in, whether it’s around a board table, or at a podium, or wherever. I’ve also had to learn not to let myself be mansplained. Throughout my career, it’s been incredibly frustrating to present an idea that is overlooked, and then ten minutes later watch a man present my original idea and receive positive responses to it. My authority is routinely challenged as a woman working in a male-dominated space, and that’s been true for my whole professional life. I’ve also often been routinely underestimated because I don’t necessarily look like someone with power. Learning how to harness that misperception and use it to my advantage has been helpful. I have learned that some men are very threatened by women in charge, especially when I have the power to say no to something. Today I am comfortable being much more forthright than I used to be, but when I say something in a direct way, men sometimes think I’m attacking them.Why do you think evangelical policies and perspectives get such disproportionate media attention and how do you hope to counter that trend?I think we have to separate right-wing evangelicals from evangelicals in general, because there are progressive evangelicals, especially among the younger generations. Overall there are a number of issues that allow right-wing evangelical perspectives to dominate the media. Primarily, there are so many more more evangelicals than Jews. It’s easier for the media to tell their story because it’s more of a cohesive story, organized around easily recognizable institutions and figures. The progressive world is more of a collective, made up of people from different faith communities and from the secular world, from many different kinds of organizations and institutions. It’s a messier story without one plot line. So it’s much harder to characterize or understand, and therefore it’s easier to under report. I believe that Jewish faith leaders have to tell our story and do all that we can to get that story into the public square. We need to make sure people hear that there is no such thing as the one religious perspective or the one faith perspective on reproductive rights–we need to say loudly and clearly that there is a progressive religious voice on these issues as well as the right wing religious voice that they regularly hear. We need to make it known that the vast majority of Jews support reproductive rights, and that we have a long and textual tradition of doing so. So much of the conversation around reproductive rights is really a conversation about control over women, and as Jews we stand firmly in support of women’s agency in making their own healthcare and family planning decisions. These are messages that I work hard to get out into the mainstream media through writing op-eds, representing a progressive religious voice on panels, talking to journalists, and partnering with allied organizations. For us as Jews, the faith perspective on reproductive rights means access to birth control and access to abortion when needed. Our religious perspective is that women should be able to decide when and why to have children.What do you think the government could do to better advocate for the lives of Jewish Americans followingOne obvious thing the government could do to better advocate for the lives of Jewish Americans is disassociating itself from anti-Semites, racists and white supremacists. We have yet to hear a clear, unequivocal message against anti-Semitism from the government. The rhetoric about there being “very fine people on both sides” in Charlottesville provided dangerous validation to the white-nationalist protestors. That language sends the message that being an anti-semite and racist is acceptable, legitimate behavior to be tolerated in America. That pattern has continued over the past years, allowing hate of all kinds to be an acceptable response to diversity in this country. We need national leaders who stand up against hate and intolerance of all kinds, and who model an embrace of the diversity that actually reflects who we are as Americans, for Jewish Americans and for all of us. “I believe that Jewish faith leaders have to tell our story and do all that we can to get that story into the public square,” said Rabbi Person. (
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