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..
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
