A member of the first class to graduate from Yeshivat Maharat, a seminary for ordaining Orthodox Jewish women, Rachel Kohl Finegold is the first Orthodox woman to serve in a clergy position at a Canadian synagogue. Finegold began studying Jewish texts at an early age alongside her twin brother, but when his studies culminated in ordination from Yeshiva University, she began investigating the possibility of her own rabbinic path. Having already earned a BA in religion from Boston University and a certificate from the demanding Drisha Institute for women, Finegold graduated from Yeshivat Maharat in 2013 and immediately began working for Congregation Shaar Hashomayim in Montreal, where she teaches, gives sermons, and counsels congregants. She has channeled her own early love of learning into educating others through leading the synagogue’s religious school and serving as a board member for the Bronfman Jewish Education Centre. She also sits on the editorial board for the journal of the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance (JOFA), and has written for Kveller and other Jewish blogs about a wide range of issues affecting Jewish women and the Orthodox community.