Rabbis

Denise Eger

As one of the first openly gay rabbis, Denise Eger has spent her career working for greater LGBT inclusion in Jewish communities.

Gesa Ederberg

Gesa Ederberg’s status as the first woman rabbi to serve in Berlin since the Holocaust has helped her reinvigorate the German community that once represented the cutting edge of liberal Judaism.

Dianne Cohler-Esses

As the first woman rabbi from the Syrian community, Dianne Cohler-Esses has used teaching to open up new possibilities for others.

As the first Asian-American rabbi and cantor, Angela Buchdahl has shifted people’s perceptions of what it means to look Jewish, but it is her intellect, charisma, and deep spiritual curiosity that have made her the senior rabbi at a prestigious Manhattan synagogue.

Sharon Brous

Sharon Brous’s personal quest for a meaningful Jewish life led her to found IKAR, a community blending innovative spirituality and strong social justice values to reengage disaffected Jews.

Pauline Bebe

Pauline Bebe’s struggles to become the first women rabbi to serve in France have made her sensitive to the importance of welcoming people of all backgrounds to participate in Jewish life.

Sharon Cohen Anisfeld

Sharon Cohen Anisfeld has brought her passion for activism into her role as dean of the rabbinical school at Hebrew College, inspiring her students to blend both engagement with tradition and engagement with social justice.

Rachel Adler

Rachel Adler has always challenged her religion from within, from her early days as a pioneer of the Jewish feminist movement to her later ordination as a rabbi.

Tina Grimberg

Tina Grimberg has focused her rabbinic career on empowering women and fighting domestic violence.

Regina Jonas / Alina Treiger

German Rabbis

Leading the German-Jewish Community

Alina Treiger

As the first woman rabbi to be ordained in Germany since the Holocaust, Alina Treiger has cultivated the kind of progressive Judaism that had been the pride of German Jews before World War II.

Pauline Bebe

The first woman rabbi in France, Pauline Bebe has worked to reach out to addicts, HIV-positive people, and others who often struggle to find an inclusive community.

Julia Neuberger

Baroness Julia Neuberger holds an unusual double distinction as both a rabbi and a member of the House of Lords.

Jackie Tabick

Jackie Tabick, Great Britain’s first female rabbi, also serves as Britain’s first female head of the Reform Beit Din, or religious court.

February 19, 2016

Come, Join Us

Hani Fish-Bieler

I remember my excitement upon hearing about Yeshivat Maharat’s ordination of women. As a supporter of female Jewish leadership in all of its forms, I was thrilled at the idea. Evidently, Jessica Cavanagh-Melhado, a contributor to JWA’s blog, felt the same way. In June 2013, she wrote a piece entitled, We Begin to Become a Multitude. In the piece, she describes her experience attending the first ever ordination of women as open Orthodox female spiritual leaders.

Topics: Jewish Law, Rabbis, Judaism-Conservative, Judaism-Orthodox