Sally priesand biography

Sally Jane Priesand (born June 27, 1946) is America's first female rabbi ordained by a rabbinical seminary, and the second formally ordained female rabbi in.
Sally Jane Priesand is America's first female rabbi ordained by a rabbinical seminary, and the second formally ordained female rabbi in Jewish history, after Regina Jonas.
Rabbi Sally J. Priesand '72, North America's first female rabbi, was ordained in June, 1972, by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati.

•

Priesand, Sally Jane (1946—)

Jewish-American who in 1972 became the first woman in the history of Judaism to be ordained a rabbi. Born on June 27, 1946, in Cleveland, Ohio; daughter of Irving Theodore Priesand and Rosetta Elizabeth (Welch) Priesand; attended University of Cincinnati and Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion.

By the time Sally Jane Priesand was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1946, a number of American-Jewish women had laid the groundwork for women rabbis or served non-officially in that capacity. As far back as 1889, in an article entitled "A Problem for Purim," which appeared on the front page of The Jewish Exponent, the Philadelphia journalist Mary M. Cohen asked whether or not women could contribute to the development of Judaism in the United States by becoming rabbis. By the early 1900s, a number of American Jews, particularly those allied to Reform Judaism, were openly debating the question raised by Cohen in 1889. In 1903, Henrietta Szold , the foremost American Jewish woman leader, approached Solomon Schechter, president of the Jewish T

•

Object Details

Artist: Joan Roth, born 1942
Sitter: Sally Jane Priesand, born 27 Jun 1946

Exhibition Label

Born Cleveland, Ohio

In 1972, Sally Priesand became the first woman ordained as a rabbi by a rabbinical seminary. A photograph commemorating that milestone showed her holding the Torah scroll—a sacred act previously forbidden to women. Fifty years later, Joan Roth made this photograph at Monmouth Reform Temple in Tinton Falls, New Jersey. Rabbi Priesand served as rabbi there from 1981 to 2006. The Torah scroll she holds bears the Hebrew word Avodah, connoting work, worship, and service.

During her time at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Rabbi Priesand’s studies focused on the expanding role of women in Jewish religious life. Her book Judaism and the New Woman (1975) also addressed the subject. “Once I have broken through the barriers,” she correctly predicted, “More women will follow the dictates of their hearts and become spiritual leaders.” Her advocacy helped ensure that outcome, paving the way for many women to enter the rabbinate.

Nacida

•

Sally Priesand

First female ordained rabbi in America

Sally Jane Priesand (born June 27, 1946) is America's first female rabbiordained by a rabbinical seminary, and the second formally ordained female rabbi in Jewish history, after Regina Jonas.^[1]^[2] Priesand was ordained by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion on June 3, 1972, at the Plum Street Temple in Cincinnati.^[3] After her ordination she served first as assistant and then as associate rabbi at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in New York City, and later led Monmouth Reform Temple in Tinton Falls, New Jersey from 1981 until her retirement in 2006. She is featured in numerous books including Rabbis: The Many Faces of Judaism and Fifty Jewish Women who Changed the World.^[4]

Early life and education

Sally Jane Priesand was born June 27, 1946, in Cleveland, Ohio into a Jewish family. Her parents, Irving Theodore, an engineer,^[5] and Rose Elizabeth (Welch) Priesand^[6] were not religiously observant but they were active in Jewish organiza