Trio of Jewish Women Religious Leaders

Ruth Messinger in Haiti last August. Image by Courtesy Ruth Messinger
The Huffington Post is out with its list of the top 10 women religious leaders, and one is a rabbi, another a Jewish activist and a third is a spiritual guru with Jewish roots.

Ruth Messinger in Haiti last August. Image by Courtesy Ruth Messinger
Coming in at No. 9 is Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum who leads the only LGBT synagogue in Manhattan, Congregation Beit Simchat Torah which was extremely outspoken about passing gay marriage in New York. She was a Sisterhood 50 pick, one of Newsweek’s most influential rabbis and was ordained by the Reconstructionist rabbinical college.
Her congregation recently purchased two storefronts on West 30th street that will become its first permanent home. Kleinbaum was the only rabbi to appear on Huffington Post’s list.
Though she is not a rabbi or even technically a religious leader for that matter, Ruth Messinger is No, 5 on this top ten. She is probably as or more active than one as president of the American Jewish World Service and a formidable booster of human rights initiatives. Messinger said she was honored to be included on the list, though she said the group might be better named as a list of leaders of “faith-based organizations or organizations that run according to faith-based values.”
“This is another community where women are coming into their own as powerful voices for social change,” she said.
Messinger served for 12 years on New York’s City Council, made a bid for mayor of that city, and traveled with Forward editor, Jane Eisner to Haiti in September of last year.
The highest ranking woman with Jewish credentials is No. 4, Sharon Salzberg. She has taught meditation and spirituality for 35 years, and is a co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society, a study and retreat center, in Barre, Mass. She grew up with Jewish grandparents and told the Yid Lit podcast recently that she still connects deeply to her Jewish roots.
Below is an excerpt from her interview with the Forward about why there are a number of meditation gurus who were raised Jewish.
My generation of Jewish people often had quite secular upbringings, and there was a spiritual longing that wasn’t finding a form within Judaism. It wasn’t enough to be inspired by the examples of others; people wanted to put something into practice. Now meditation practices have moved into the mainstream of science. People can adapt and re-language within their own tradition.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
- 2
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 3
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
- 4
Fast Forward The invitation said, ‘No Jews.’ The response from campus officials, at least, was real.
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture In a Haredi Jerusalem neighborhood, doctors’ visits are free, but the wait may cost you
-
Fast Forward Chicago mayor donned keffiyeh for Arab Heritage Month event, sparking outcry from Jewish groups
-
Fast Forward The invitation said, ‘No Jews.’ The response from campus officials, at least, was real.
-
Fast Forward Latvia again closes case against ‘Butcher of Riga,’ tied to mass murder of Jews
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.