Reply To: If you do not have s'micha, can you advertise yourself as "Rabbi"?

Can women receive a parsonage allowance?

There is no clear precedent whether an Orthodox Jewish female teacher who has a bona fide certification (i.e., a certificate from a seminary or other Jewish program as described below) to teach Limudei Kodesh, and who is employed by a Jewish school for that purpose, is eligible to receive a parsonage allowance. We therefore cannot state with certainty that such payments would not be challenged by the IRS, which could affect the

seminary or other qualified Jewish program designed to prepare Limudei Kodesh teachers (and not from a board of education

or other secular organization or school) and should certify that the recipient is authorized to perform those religious functions.