Reb Mimi Feigelson, the first Orthodox woman ordained as a rabbi, has followed in the footsteps of her mentor, Shlomo Carlebach, by welcoming students from across the spectrum of religious practice. Feigelson made Aliyah to Israel at age eight with her family and began studying with Rabbi Carlebach at age sixteen. She graduated from Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1985 with a BA in history. Although she was privately ordained by Shlomo Carlebach in 1994, she did not publicize that fact for several years, concerned about the reaction of the Orthodox community. She taught private students and in 1992 helped found Yakar, an innovative Orthodox synagogue in Jerusalem, where she served as associate director and head of the women’s beit midrash. After earning a master’s degree in Jewish philosophy from Hebrew University in 2000, she formally took on the title of “Reb” when she became spiritual director and lecturer in rabbinic literature and Hasidic thought at the Ziegler School of the American Jewish University in Los Angeles in 2001. She also earned her doctorate from Hebrew Union College in 2016. In 2017 she became spiritual director and senior lecturer in rabbinics and Hassidic thought at the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary in Jerusalem. Feigelson also travels extensively, teaching spiritual communities around the globe.