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Here’s the Agudah today:

The leadership of the Rabbinical Council of America and Rabbi Avi Weiss have apparently reached agreement that Rabbi Weiss would no longer confer the title of “Rabba” upon graduates of his women’s seminary, but rather the title “Maharat.”

This superficial move does not in any way change the position of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah that placing women in traditional rabbinic positions departs from the Jewish mesorah, and that any congregation with a woman in such a position cannot call itself Orthodox.

That the leadership of a respected rabbinical organization seems to have capitulated to Rabbi Weiss’ enterprise is deeply dismaying. We trust that this capitulation does not represent the perspective of the principled majority of the organization’s member rabbis.

Compare that with the statement from the Agudah’s R’ Avi Shafran of a year ago, when Hurwitz was ordained as a “Maharat”:

While the Haredi community certainly includes some very knowledgeable and learned women — among them greatly respected teachers and life-guides — Haredim don’t consider the role of rabbi or poseket (or any euphemism therefor) a particularly appropriate aspiration for a Jewish woman, particularly if it makes the woman a focus of men’s attention . To us, the highest aspiration a Jewish woman can have is to be the foundation of a Jewish family.
In the end, though, our community is not particularly exercised by Jews who feel differently, even if we think them misguided. There are greater challenges facing us all these days that more urgently merit our attention.

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In a twist, one Rabbi Weiss school, YCT, won’t recognize the rabbinic credentials of the other Rabbi Weiss school, Yeshivat Maharat, with Rabba Hurwitz being denied membership in the International Rabbinic Fellowship, also founded by Rabbi Weiss and primarily composed of YCT rabbis.

In an email message, Angel wrote, “The article in the Jewish Week has a number of falsehoods, including the comment that Sara Hurwitz was denied membership in the IRF.”
In fact, the IRF is open to the idea of women joining its membership, Angel told TJC Newsdesk:

At the spring conference of the IRF, we discussed at great length whether to admit qualified women, even if they do not have formal rabbinic ordination. The general consensus was that we should, and a committee was appointed to come up with a specific resolution with guidelines for eligibility for membership. This resolution is to be brought to the IRF’s convention in June. It is quite likely that women will then be eligible for membership, and Sarah (and possibly other [women]) will then be able to apply for membership and be accepted as members.

Regarding those other “falsehoods” in the NY Jewish Week article, and the reaction to Rabbi Avi Weiss changing Sara Hurwitz’s title from Maharat to Rabba, we’ll have more soon.

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Rabbi Gil Nativ, a former member of the 71st Paratrooper’s Battalion, who was among the soldiers who liberated the Western Wall during the Six Day War in 1967, told the Post that he was attending the rally because he felt that the Kotel “needed to be liberated again.”

“When we fought for this place in 1967, we did it for all of Israel, not just one group,” Nativ said. “Recently, certain groups have tried to assert their authority over others, making them uncomfortable. What we did here tonight was try and show that the Kotel is for everyone, and that pluralism should prevail here.”

No matter one’s position on the issue, that’s a very bold quote from a credible person.