Black Female Rabbi Soon to be Ordained
Saturday will mark a new era for the Jewish community as the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati ordains mainstream Judaism’s first African-American female rabbi, Alysa Stanton.
According to a report issued by the Institute for Jewish and Community Outreach in San Francisco, twenty percent of the Jewish population in the United States, or roughly 1.2 million people, come from diverse, nonwhite backgrounds.
Jonathan Sarna, an expert on U.S. Judaism at Brandeis University in Boston attributes the growing diversity of the Jewish community in part to conversions, intermarriage and adoption. He sees Stanton as symbolic of a great change in the American Jewish community.
Change certainly seems to be at the forefront of United States’ culture and politics these days. It is not surprising that the nation’s Jewish community would be undergoing similar transformations in its own leadership. Stanton told the Huffington Post that she is “happy to be a face that reflects diversity.”
Stanton’s spiritual journey demonstrates that one does not have to be born Jewish to become a Jew, or a rabbi, for that matter. Stanton’s experiences will likely resonate with other women who are interested in Judaism, and may encourage a greater diversity of women to join the Jewish community and take on leadership roles.
As Stanton told ABC News: “It’s difficult being a first of anything, and although I’m honored and in awe that God has given me this responsibility, it’s one that I do not take lightly.” She will soon lead Congregation Bayt Shalom in Greenville, N.C..
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 still need 300 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.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
