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Sally Priesand, first U.S. woman ordained as rabbi, speaks at Jewish Community Center.
Sally Priesand, America’s first female rabbi, speaks Sunday at the Jewish Community Center in Wilkes-Barre.
Niko J. Kallianiotis/For The Times Leader
WILKES-BARRE – People often find themselves looking to learn about important figures in history through text books and second-hand accounts of those who lived during an earlier time period. Fortunately, one such influential individual is alive today and ready to share her story, one of hardships and breaking barriers, paving the way for women of Jewish faith in America.
The Jewish Community Center of Wyoming Valley in Wilkes-Barre on Sunday welcomed Rabbi Sally Priesand, the first woman ordained as a rabbi in the United States.
Elly Miller, of Shavertown, who sponsored the event with her husband, Murrary, met Priesand two years ago and felt it was imperative that such a noteworthy figure be heard close to home.
“When we were growing up in the ’50s, we didn’t hear a lot of talk about the women’s movement or breaking barriers or being trailblazers,” said Elly Miller. “We just had a dream of, for example, becoming a teacher. Rabbi Priesand wanted to be a teacher of her faith, but at that time there were no role models for women. She was the first.”
Oddly enough, when Priesand decided she wanted to be a rabbi at the age of 16, women’s rights never crossed her mind.
“I didn’t think at all about championing women’s rights or what it means to be the first or a pioneer, or anything like that,” she said. “That was something I just had to accept along the way, which was difficult for me because I’m a very private person. I chose a very public career, and that’s the paradox of my personality.”
Getting used to the public eye was only one of the many adversities she met along her journey. In 1964, she attended The Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her intentions to become a rabbi were often misconstrued by those around her.
“Many people thought I was attending college in order to marry a rabbi,” she said, “not become one.”
Nelson Glueck, president of the college at the time, was more than willing to ordain a woman.
“I believe that he took care of many bumps in the road behind the scenes, possibly things I never even heard about,” Priesand said. “I was very fortunate to have him help me along the way.”
Unfortunately, with just a year left until Priesand was to be ordained, Glueck passed away. His successor at the college did not give up his mission.
“Rabbi Alfred Gottschalk was committed to it as well,” Priesand said. “It was difficult for him. With only a year left, people were still trying to stop it, but he had the courage to take someone else’s dream and move forward with it.”
Among a class of 35 men, Priesand was ordained on June 3, 1972.
Afterward, she accepted a position at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in New York, N.Y., was then rabbi of Temple Beth El in New Jersey, and served as chaplain at Manhattan’s Lenox Hill Hospital.
She went on to serve at Monmouth Reform Temple, in New Jersey, in 1981, a position she held until 2006, when she retired.
In the time since Priesand’s ordination, it’s estimated that nearly 1,000 women from the three denominations – Reform, Reconstructionist and Conservative – have become rabbis. Next year marks the 40th anniversary of her ordination.