Rachel Isaacs

American rabbi

Rachel Isaacs was the first openly lesbian rabbi ordained by the Conservative movement's Jewish Theological Seminary ("JTS"), which occurred in May 2011.[1]

## Biography

[edit]

Isaacs earned her B.A. from Wellesley College in 2005, where she was the Hillel Co-President.[2] [3] She transferred to JTS from the Reform movement's Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in her third year of rabbinical school.[4]

She is now the rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel in Waterville, Maine, which is a Conservative synagogue,[2][5] as well as the Dorothy "Bibby" Levine Alfond Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies at Colby College.[6] She is also the director of the Center for Small Town Jewish Life, also at Colby.[7]

Isaacs was mentored at JTS by Rabbi Carie Carter, who placed the tallit across Isaacs' shoulders at her ordination.[4] Rabbi Carter was a closeted lesbian during her time at JTS, and wrote the originally-anonymous chapter "In Hiding" about lesbian Conservative rabbis in the 2001 book Lesbian Rabbis: The First Generation.[1] Rabbi Carter is now openly lesbian, and works at Brooklyn's Park Slope Jewish Center, which Rachel Isaacs interned at.[1]

In 2014, Isaacs was named one of "America's Most Inspiring Rabbis" by the Jewish Daily Forward.[5] In 2016, she delivered the evening Hanukkah benediction at the White House.[8]

## See also

[edit]

* Timeline of women rabbis

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c Amy Stone (Summer 2011). "Out and Ordained" (PDF). Lilith. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-10-25. Retrieved 2011-11-19.
2. ^ a b "Beth Israel Congregation". Beth Israel Congregation, Waterville, ME. Retrieved 19 November 2011.
3. ^ "Jewish Studies at Colby College » Blog Archive » Welcome, Rachel Isaacs and Linda Maizels!". Jewish Studies at Colby College. Colby College. 2011-08-19. Retrieved 2011-11-19.
4. ^ a b "JTS Ordains Its First Openly Gay Rabbi – The Sisterhood – Forward.com". Blogs.forward.com. 2011-05-25. Retrieved 2011-11-19.
5. ^ a b "Rabbi at Waterville synagogue named one of America's 'Most Inspiring' Jewish clergy". The Bangor Daily News. 20 March 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
6. ^ College, Colby. "Dorothy "Bibby" Levine Alfond Professorship of Jewish Studies Inaugural Lecture and a Celebration of the Center for Small Town Jewish Life, Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015". Colby.edu.
7. ^ College, Colby. "Center for Small Town Jewish Life". Colby.edu.
8. ^ Posted December 15, 2016 (2016-12-15). "Waterville rabbi calls delivering Hanukkah remarks at White House 'incredible'". CentralMaine.com. Retrieved 2017-06-23.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

* v
* t
* e

Women rabbis and Torah scholars

Timeline of women rabbis

Pre-modern
figures|

| Bible and Talmud|

* Deborah (1107–1067 BCE)
* Bruriah (2nd century)

|

Medieval and
early modern era|

* Rashi's daughters (11th–12th century)
* Bat ha-Levi (12th century)
* Paula Dei Mansi (13th century)
* Miriam Shapira-Luria (14th century)
* Fioretta of Modena (1522–1580)
* Bayla Falk (16th century)
* Eva Bacharach (1580–1651)
* Asenath Barzani (1590–1670)
* Frehat Bat Avraham (d. 1756)
* Maiden of Ludmir (1805–1888)

Modern figures|

* Ray Frank (1861–1948)
* Lily Montagu (1873–1963)
* Regina Jonas (1902–1944)
* Tehilla Lichtenstein (1893–1973)
* Paula Ackerman (1893–1989)
* Martha Neumark (1904–1981)
* Avis Clamitz (1908-1991)
* Helen Levinthal (1910–1989)
* Sally Priesand (b. 1946)
* Mimi Feigelson (b. 1963)

| First ordination
by denomination|

* Regina Jonas (Reform, 1935)
* Sandy Sasso (Reconstructionist, 1974)
* Lynn Gottlieb (Renewal, 1981)
* Amy Eilberg (Conservative, 1985)
* Tamara Kolton (Humanistic, 1999)
* Sara Hurwitz (Orthodox, 2009)

|

Alternate
rabbinical roles|

* Yoetzet halacha
* Toanot Rabniyot

Organisations
and midrashot|

* Women's Rabbinic Network
* Yeshivat Maharat
* Matan Women's Institute
* Midreshet Lindenbaum
* Nishmat Center
* Hadran

Category: Women rabbis
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