RJ Blog

Growing up in the 21st century, it is hard for me to believe that the first woman rabbi was ordained only 40 short years ago. Three out of four rabbis at my temple are women, one of whom was ordained within the first year that women were allowed to do so.

This essay is the winner of Women of Reform Judaism’s Centennial Essay Competition. Women of Reform Judaism established this essay contest in honor of their Centennial celebration. Teens were asked to write about the influence of women’s leadership in Reform congregations.

Editor’s Note: This piece is excerpted from Rabbi Abrahmson’s keynote address at the 2013 WRJ Fried Leadership Conference. by Rabbi B. Elka Abrahamson It has been a remarkable week for women. On Monday, the women’s restrooms in the United States Capitol happily boasted a line, thanks to the record-smashing 94 female House members needing to use it. In like fashion, 26 women will join Israel’s new parliament, a record-setting increase from 21 in the 18th Knesset. Among the new members, Pnina Tamano-Shata, Israel’s first female Ethiopian elected to Knesset and also Ruth Calderon, who established Alma, an egalitarian, liberal yeshiva [...]

Have you been reading this year’s Jewels of Elul, daily stories to guide your pre-High Holy Days introspection? The most recent “jewel,” on the topic of aging, is written by a familiar name: Rabbi Sally J. Priesand, the first ordained female rabbi. In “Not Yet,” Rabbi Priesand begins, In a dilapidated log cabin, near a cornfield, there lived an old farmer. He had lived in the same place for so long that he attracted a lot of attention from passersby. Some believed his age to be 110, yet he maintained a youthful disposition and a sparkling sense of humor. Once [...]

By Jessica Kirzane The history of Jewish women in America is important.  It’s not just important in some politically-correct way – I’m not saying we need to be thinking about and teaching about American Jewish women in order to prove that they ‘contributed’ to a male-dominated history, or just to make sure that everyone feels they are represented in the classroom, although these are admirable goals.  I’m saying that the history is important in its own right. I believe that if you don’t teach about women in history, you are actually getting it wrong – you are missing a significant [...]

The Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) today released a study on Rabbinic Compensation by Gender. The executive summary provided by the CCAR in many ways states the obvious: there is a salary discrepancy between men and women, and that discrepancy increases as congregational size increases. No great surprise there. What is exceptional about this study is the raw data that it provides to document that disparity and to highlight exactly where that disparity is most noticeable: “Differences in senior/solo base compensation by gender are markedly less among “A” category congregations, which can be served by newly ordained rabbis (female [...]

By Rabbi Wendi Geffen “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I asked my four-year old recently. “Well, I’d like to be a rabbi, but I can’t because I’m a boy.” Given the fact that nearly every rabbi my son has met, including me, is female, his conclusion was not surprising. Contrast that with my three year-old daughter’s response when I asked her what she would like to be when she grows up: “I don’t want to be a rabbi. I want to be a princess.” So although this is certainly not a scientific or sociological study [...]

The following is a letter of congratulations written to Rabbi Miri Gold by Rabbi Robert Leib of Old York Road Temple-Beth Am in Abington, PA. Feel free to share your own messages to Miri in the comments below,  or on ARZA’s Facebook page! Dear Miri, On behalf of our entire congregation, most especially those who have met and heard you, personally, we extend our sincere CONGRATULATIONS to you on your long-awaited victory!! We are all so thrilled for you and the extraordinary patience, courage, strength and optimism you have displayed over the course of so many years.

As May comes to a close, we’re looking back on all the powerful, personal blog posts on RJ.org this month celebrating the role of women in Reform Judaism. In just a few days, we’ll celebrate the 40th anniversary of Rabbi Sally Priesand’s ordination as the first female rabbi. We’ve come a long way since then! Here, a few highlights: In “Immersed in History,” newly ordained Rabbi Jen Gubitz gives a first-person narrative of her trip to the mikvah with the other female members of her rabbinical class. On the RACblog, social justice activist Allison Grossman speaks of her own debt [...]

Editor’s Note: The following post was issued as a press release this afternoon following the news today that Rabbi Miri Gold would become the first non-orthodox Rabbi to be paid by the State of Israel. Israeli Reform Rabbi Miri Gold will be the first non-orthodox Rabbi to be paid by the State of Israel, under a ruling today by the Israel Attorney General. Rabbi Gold, who first heard the news on the radio said, “This is a big step for religious pluralism and democracy in Israel.  Israeli Jews want religious alternatives and with this decision the State is starting to [...]

by Rabbi Linda Henry Goodman As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of Rabbi Sally Priesand’s ordination this coming June 3rd, I add my voice to the chorus in wishing her my heartfelt Mazal Tov. Sally was gracious enough to come to Union Temple of Brooklyn this past March to deliver the keynote address at my installation as President of the New York Board of Rabbis (NYBR). I am the first woman to hold that position since the organization was founded in 1881. In her remarks that evening, Sally told us a story that many of us had never heard before. [...]

by Rabbi Jen Gubitz It was raining out, gloomy as ever. On an NYC day like this, all you want to do is cancel plans and make every attempt to stay dry. But a plan had been made to meet at 3pm – the six of us trying to coordinate our schedules for weeks prior – and the dreariness outside would not curtail even the one traveling with her 12-week-old baby. Contrary to the blustery day outside, the tiled entryway staircase glimmered beneath every step leading down to a magnificent, spa-like waiting room, as if ducking into some alternate universe. [...]

by Rabbi Ilene Harkavy Haigh A photo appeared recently on Facebook. It was a picture of the women in my rabbinical school class and Rabbi Sally Priesand, taken on the morning of our ordination from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and on the 40th anniversary of her ordination. Rabbi Priesand, the first woman to be ordained as a rabbi in the US, stood at the frontier of each of our rabbinates. The import and significance of the photo, of the reality of her groundbreaking work and the honor bestowed upon us, to stand beside her has gradually dawned [...]

by Cantor Susan Caro While I did not grow up with a female cantor at my congregation, I was fortunate spend many summers at our URJ camps, both as a camper and as a staff member and songleader. It is there that the spark of Jewish music was ignited for me, and where I found numerous female voices bringing new expression to the words and music of our tradition. They were cantorial students and rabbinic students, songleaders and teachers, all of whom encouraged me to find my own way in the Jewish world. My heart has always been touched through [...]