Priesand, Sally Jane (1946–)

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Priesand, Sally Jane (1946–)

Jewish-American rabbi. Born June 27, 1946, in Cleveland, Ohio; dau. of Irving Theodore Priesand and Rosetta Elizabeth (Welch) Priesand; graduate of University of Cincinnati, 1968; attended Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.

The 1st woman in the history of Judaism to be ordained a rabbi, was admitted to the HUC-JIR rabbinic school (1968); ordained in Cincinnati's Plum Street Temple, became the 1st female ordained rabbi in the world (June 3, 1972), the only other claimant being Regina Jonas, who died in the Holocaust and had never been ordained by a seminary; found 1st job as an assistant in Manhattan's Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, eventually advancing to associate rabbi; took a position at Monmouth Reform Temple in Tinton Falls, New Jersey (1981); writings include Judaism and the New Woman (1975).

See also Women in World History.

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