Alissa Thomas-Newborn
The Barrier-Breaking Female Orthodox Rabbi
Alissa Thomas-Newborn grew up watching a woman lead services in synagogue: Her own mother, Didi Thomas, is the spiritual leader at Temple Emet, a Reform congregation in Torrance, California.
Over the years, Thomas-Newborn became Orthodox — but found herself searching for a way to serve as a female religious leader in her new Orthodox community.
After graduating from Brandeis University, she studied at Yeshivat Maharat, in Rabbi Avi Weiss’s female rabbinical training program, and was certified as a chaplain herself. In 2015 she joined B’nai David-Judea Congregation, in Los Angeles, as the first Orthodox Jewish female clergy member in California.
There, Thomas-Newborn, 28, delivers sermons, provides pastoral care and officiates lifecycle events — but is not counted toward a minyan, nor does she lead services or read publicly from the Torah.
In the community, she is called “Rabbanit,” a title she is proud of.
“It is a word with a history that touches on the leadership that women have always played in Judaism that they have given spiritually and interpersonally,” she said.
Thomas-Newborn has attracted controversy merely by virtue of her position, as Orthodox groups like the Rabbinical Council of America and the Orthodox Union have ruled unequivocally against female clergy members.
But she has remained unperturbed. “My response,” she said, “is to continue teaching Torah and inspire others to connect to our mitzvot, to each other and to HaShem.”
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
