When I was still a somewhat new-ish lawyer, I worked for the then-4th-largest firm in the state of Nevada. I remember a friend leaving maybe 18 months after we both started working there (he started exactly one month before me). When he was getting ready to leave, we did something very dangerous ... we discussed salaries. He told me that he made $5K more than I did, even though we went to the same kind of law school and we had both worked for judges for a year before going into private practice (I had even billed 100 more hours than him during the prior year, which was really the true test of value at the firm). At the time I thought, "Wow, it's 1994 already, aren't we past this kind of stuff yet?" It took me a while, but I got up the nerve to ask the Managing Partner of the firm about the discrepancy ... and he told me, "We were overpaying him, we are paying you the right amount."
It is now 2009 and I have changed professions, but it appears that not so much has changed in far too many places ... read Rabbi Rebecca Sirbu's reflections on equity in Jewish communal work:
http://www.jewishjournal.com/nation/article/jewish_community_ignores_female_leaders_at_its_peril_20091130/
Unfortunately, I believe she is correct. When looking for a position near the end of rabbinical school, I was quoted a salary for a position that was substantially less than a married, male classmate (with less practical experience) was quoted for the same position. I choose to believe it was a mistake (and the position was clearly not the right one for me), but it does make me wonder ... if we are all created in the image of God, shouldn't the Jewish community be doing better? At the very least, shouldn't my experience be better now as a rabbi than when I was a lawyer? How many more years will it take before we have true equality for everyone, especially in the Reform Movement where we so often preach equality?
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