Martha Neumark was the daughter of a professor at
Hebrew Union College of
Reform Judaism. In 1921, Neumark became the first female student at Hebrew Union College to declare her desire to become a rabbi. That year she requested a
High Holiday pulpit for the next year, just as her male classmates would receive. However, the debate on women's ordination she had sparked continued. In 1922 Neumark and her father attended the
Central Conference of American Rabbis Conference, where she succeeded in convincing the CCAR to ordain women rabbis. The CCAR declared in a responsa in 1922, "...woman cannot justly be denied the privilege of ordination," having voted 56 to 11 in favor of that statement. Some of her personal papers are now held in the Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives at Hebrew Union College. Following Neumark, instances of American Jewish women who studied for rabbinical ordination but were denied formal ordination include
Helen Levinthal. Levinthal was denied ordination after completing her studies in 1935.
Independent Jewish Press Service In the early 1940s, Neumark served as the executive editor of the
Independent Jewish Press Service. ==Personal life==