<HTML>R. Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron (the current Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel) has
written, "women may be gedolei hador ... [and] serve as morei horaah
and teachers of Torah and practical halakha, as the authority for these
positions flows from the individual's talents" (Biny'an Av (Jerusalem,
1982), responsum 65, p. 287). See also Encyclopedia Talmudit (vol. 8.
s.v., hora'ah, p. 494) and the sources brought there in n. 109.
The problem is that outside of the Drisha Scholars Circle, there is no
formal training program in halakha at the smicha level for women.</HTML>
