1/2/2002 Marcia Zimmerman: Taking the lead without sacrificing family
Jennifer Thaney
Marcia Zimmerman, senior rabbi at Temple Israel in Minneapolis, first came to the synagogue in 1988. After eventually settling into her role as an associate rabbi, Zimmerman did what many working women do: after the birth of each of her three children, she cut her hours to spend more time at home.
Placing so much emphasis on family would almost surely work against her career, Zimmerman thought. The next step was senior rabbi, and part-time senior rabbis are almost unheard of, especially at large congregations like Temple Israel.
But last summer, Zimmerman proved an exception to the unfortunate rule that often penalizes women who choose family over their careers. On July 1, 2001, she assumed the duties of senior rabbi, making Temple Israel and its 5,000 families the largest Reform congregation in the country led by a woman.
"This hasn't necessarily been the goal of my career," Zimmerman told the Minnesota Women's Press shortly after taking over for Rabbi Joseph Edelheit, who preceded her. Calling Temple Israel "gracious" for allowing her to remain on staff even in a part-time capacity, Zimmerman acknowledged the unique nature of her career journey. "The assumption is that you have to be driven to get to this position, that you have to sacrifice your life and your family's. But that isn't how I got here. I did it by being consistent and steady, and by having strong and loyal relationships within the congregation."
Those relationships will become even stronger now that Zimmerman is senior rabbi. "People have not always seen me in my full power and right," she said. "Now they will."
Indeed, people are paying attention to Zimmerman, and not just members of Temple Israel. By allowing Zimmerman to serve in a part-time capacity and then promoting her, Temple Israel positioned itself on the cutting edge of Jewish congregations. And women all over the country are taking note.
"There is a crisis in the rabbinate right now," Zimmerman explained. "People are not entering into it at the rate of the need, because they are afraid of giving up too much. Opportunity alone isn't enough. Opportunity with different options is what is really going to make the rabbinate survive."
And the more room for women there is in the leadership of Jewish faith communities, the more dynamic those communities will become, Zimmerman added. "As far as I'm concerned, everything I bring to the rabbinate is about who I am as a Jew and as a woman," she explained. "I see the world through the eyes of being female, and I celebrate and value that perspective just as I celebrate men's perspective. I'm a strong feminist, and always have been."
Zimmerman's strong feminist identity doesn't always prevent her from being intimidated by the task at hand, or by the fact that she is a woman in a traditionally male role.
But she also wonders why being a woman in a position of such esteem and power is big news in the first place. "In some ways," Zimmerman noted, "this is what it really should be."
