Prior to the 1970s, when ordination of women gained wider acceptance, there are various examples of Jewish women who were formally considered as rabbis, rabbinic authorities, or Torah scholars. However, these instances recorded throughout Jewish history and tradition were perceived as rare, and highly exceptional cases of women occupying rabbinic posts.
Biblical and Talmudic traditions In the early portions of the
Bible, the
Hebrew Matriarchs seem to only be mentioned in connection with their husbands or sons, indicating an absence of the feminine voice and narrative in biblical history, an understandable position in a patriarchal society. However, in the
rabbinic tradition, the position of the matriarchs are reinterpreted to highlight their honored status, minimizing actions in the biblical narrative that indicate wrongdoing on their part. The exact number of prophetess-matriarchs included in this tradition is unclear. Many sources list
Sarah,
Rebekah,
Leah and
Rachel (the wives of the
Hebrew Patriarchs), while other sources include
Bilhah and
Zilpah (Jacob's concubine wives). This view of ancient Hebrew women appears to change in the later books of the bible. The biblical figure of
Deborah the
prophetess is described as serving as a judge . According to traditional rabbinic sources, Deborah's judiciary role primarily concerned religious law. Thus, according to this view, Deborah was Judaism's first female religious legal authority, equivalent to the contemporary rabbinical role of
posek (rabbinic decisor of Jewish Law). Other rabbinic sources understand the biblical story of Deborah that her role was only that of a national leader and not of a legal authority. Alternatively, other Rabbinic authorities understand Deborah's role to be one that advised Jewish judges, but she herself did not render religious legal rulings. The biblical figure of
Huldah the prophetess is understood as functioning in the role of an expert in the Israelite religion. Her contribution is recorded as verifying the legitimacy of changes to the religious practices in ancient Judaism enacted under
King Josiah. There are two versions of Huldah's involvement in the Josiah reforms, the first recorded in , the second in , and scholars infer points of difference between the versions. Other scholars note Huldah's mark on the urban landscape of the Israelite temple as an indication of her stature in Israelite society. Huldah's character has led to speculation as to the extent of her involvement in writing the Hebrew scriptures using computer programs to dicipher
forms of Hebrew anagrams. However, in reviewing this work, scholars have criticized these findings as flawed owing to the highly speculative methodology. In
Talmudic literature, women are generally excluded from the project of rabbinic interpretation and legal decision making. Nevertheless, the Talmudic figure of
Bruriah (2nd century) is described as participating in Jewish legal debates, challenging the rabbis of the time. Aside from Bruriah, another Talmudic woman,
Yalta (wife of Rav Nachman and daughter of the
Exilarch) is noted for her scholarship. Recent research has complicated the narrative that women in the times of the Talmud did not study Torah. Close readings of various Talmudic passages point to the familiarity of Torah and rabbinic teachings among women in rabbinic families.
Medieval and early modern ages ) as a Torah scholar (
The American Israelite, April 19, 1867) The history of medieval Jewish women includes various individual forerunners to the modern notion of women rabbis and Torah scholars. The
daughters of Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, known as
Rashi, living in France in the 11th–12th century, are the subject of Jewish legends claiming that they possessed unusual Torah scholarship. In the 12th century,
Bat ha-Levi flourished in Iraq. In the 13th century, a Jewish woman in Italy named
Paula Dei Mansi served as a scribe and scholar. In Germany, during the 15th century,
Miriam Shapira-Luria was known to have conducted a yeshiva (a higher institution for the study of central Jewish texts) and gave public lectures on Jewish codes of law. Also in Italy, during the 16th century,
Fioretta of Modena was regarded as a Torah scholar.
Eva Bacharach (c. 1580–1651) was a rabbinical scholar in Prague, the daughter and granddaughter or notable rabbis. A similar case is
Bayla Falk, wife of
Joshua Falk. Examples of Jewish women who authored Jewish texts from this period include
Rebecca bat Meir Tiktiner and
Devorà Ascarelli. It is claimed that in one instance a medieval Jewish woman served as rabbi. In this case,
Asenath Barzani of Iraq is considered by scholars as the first woman rabbi of Jewish history; additionally, Barzani is the oldest recorded female Kurdish leader in history. The title referred to Barzani by the Jews of Kurdistan was
Tannait, the feminine equivalent of
Tanna, the title for a Jewish sage of the early Talmudic rabbis. According to researchers, the origin of the Barzani story is the travelogue of Rabbi
Petachiah of Regensburg. In the early modern era, there were cases of Jewish women translating scholarly texts from Hebrew into Yiddish such as Ellus bat Mordecai of Slutsk who published translations on a Jewish legal guide to laws concerning death and burial.
Hasidism In Eastern European
Hasidic Judaism, during the early 19th-century,
Hannah Rachel Verbermacher, also known as the Maiden of Ludmir, became the movement's only female Hasidic
rebbe, however, the role of rebbe relates to spiritual and communal leadership as opposed to the legal authority of "rabbi". Other instances have been preserved of Hasidic
rebbetzins (wives of Hasidic rebbes) who "acted similar to" Hasidic rebbes and were therefore
de facto women Rebbes. These include Malka, In the second half of the 20th century, the only recorded instance of a
de facto woman to lead a Hasidic faction was
Faige Teitelbaum (1912–2001) of the
Satmar Hasidic community who assumed a quasi-leadership role following the death of her husband, Rabbi
Joel Teitelbaum, in 1979.
Modern age 1870s–1890s The possibility of women rabbis gaining mainstream acceptance began in the late 19th century. An 1871 report on the early career of
Susanna Rubinstein pointed to her scholarship as indication of the possibility of women rabbis. An 1875 article describing the inaugural class at
Hebrew Union College highlighted that the fourteenth student accepted into the course was Miss Julia Ettlinger (1863–1890), the college's first female student. The report speculated that Ettlinger could serve as a rabbi after graduation. One of the early proponents for women to be trained as rabbis was the journalist
Mary M. Cohen who in 1889 authored an article in the
Jewish Exponent, a Jewish newspaper in Philadelphia. in which fictional characters articulate arguments for the ordination of women. Similarly, in the 1893
Jewish Women's Congress the call was made by speakers for women to be ordained as rabbis. In the United States, there was one early example of a Jewish woman who, without formal ordination, assumed certain functions typically associated with congregational rabbis. During the 1890s, a young woman living on the
American frontier named
Rachel ("Ray") Frank assumed a religious leadership role, delivering sermons, giving public lectures and reading scripture. She was referred to as a woman rabbi in the American Jewish press, however, she appeared to have avoided claiming such a title. Frank continued to preach until her marriage to Simon Litman in 1899. According to one account, Aronsohn began providing public lectures to the Jewish community in
Shreveport, Louisiana to earn enough money to pursue her rabbinical training. In 1897,
Hannah G. Solomon of Chicago was touted as America's first woman rabbi following her preaching at
Sinai Temple. Solomon later reported that the invitation to speak was offered by Rabbi
Emil G. Hirsch and that Hirsch's practice to allow Jewish women to speak from the pulpit was later adopted by other congregations.
1900s was admitted into a rabbinical school on condition she would not receive ordination. The turn of the century saw at least one instance of a young Jewish woman set to undergo rabbinical training, even if no ordination would be provided. In 1904, the
National Council of Jewish Women in New York City announced that
Henrietta Szold would undertake rabbinical studies but would receive no graduating diploma upon completing the course. In 1908, Mrs Anna G. Abelson of
Akron, Ohio reportedly assumed the role of rabbi in her husband's absence. Her appearance before the puplit received coverage in both the Jewish and the general press.
1920s The third decade of the twentieth century saw an increased effort to ordain women rabbis with several women enrolling in rabbinical programs. During this time, the first American Jewish woman reported to be admitted to a rabbinical school was
Martha Neumark. Neumark was born in Berlin in 1904 and arrived in the US in 1907. In the early 1920s, Neumark was accepted to Reform Judaism's
Hebrew Union College (HUC). Neumark also reportedly led services at a congregation in
Frankfort, Michigan. Her entry into the HUC rabbinical program led to a 1922 resolution from the
Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) that allowed women to be ordained, however, in 1923, the governing board of Hebrew Union College voted to bar women from receiving ordination. Neumark withdrew from the rabbinical program after completing seven out of the nine years required for the completion of the program. At the same time as Neumark's entry into the rabbinical program, other American Jewish women also began studies for rabbinical ordination and were later denied formal ordination or left the program. These include
Helen Levinthal,
Avis Clamitz,
Dora Askowith and
Irma Lindheim. In the case of Helen Levinthal, formal ordination was denied to her after completing her studies in 1935. She only received a Master of Hebrew Letters (and a certificate recognizing her accomplishment) upon graduation, rather than a Master of Hebrew Letters and ordination as the men received, since the faculty felt it was not yet time for women's ordination as rabbis. In the mid-1920s,
Avis Clamitz (wife of
Charles E. Shulman) enrolled in a rabbinical program and later periodically served as a rabbi in an unofficial capacity for small congregations in Virginia.
Dora Askowith, born in
Kovno and a graduate of
Barnard College and
Columbia University, was a lecturer at
Hunter College from 1912 to 1957. During the 1920s, Askowith enrolled in a rabbinical studies program.
Irma Lindheim, the National President of
Hadassah Women's Zionist Organization of America was reported to be enrolled as a candidate for rabbinical ordination. Around this time in Germany, the
Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums, the rabbinic seminary of German Jewry began admitting women to study higher learning without the offer of ordination. The first woman to graduate from the seminary was
Ellen Littmann (1909–1975) who later went on to teach biblical studies at
Leo Baeck College in London. Meanwhile, in England, there was one notable instance of a Jewish woman receiving a formally appointment for a position within a synagogue. In 1928,
Lily Montagu, a leader within Liberal Judaism in England, became a lay minister of the
West Central Liberal Jewish Congregation.
1930s–1950s The 1930s saw the first formally ordained female rabbi in modern times.
Regina Jonas was ordained in
Berlin, Germany in 1935. Montagu was also noted by Rabbi Max Routtenberg of the
Rabbinical Assembly as being one of the only women to regularly serve as spiritual leader to a Reform/Liberal congregation. In other cases, newspaper reports would describe various Jewish women active in the community as "women rabbis". In 1935 (and later in 1946), Avis Clamitz was reported to have completed her studies and received ordination. However, according to later researchers, the HUC program granted Clamitz a Bachelor of Hebrew Letters in place of an ordination. Similarly, American Jewish coverage of the death of
Sarah Horowitz of
Częstochowa,
Poland described her as "the world's only woman Chassidic rabbi" who had presumed leadership following the death of her husband. In 1939, Helen Levinthal (despite the denial of her ordination) was also described as a "woman rabbi" due to her completion of her studies, her public lectures, and her occasional opportunities to lead congregational services. Other instances of women serving as a pulpit leader of an American Jewish community, without formal ordination, were
Tehilla Lichtenstein (1893–1973) and
Paula Ackerman (1893–1989). From 1938 to 1972, Lichtenstein led the
Society of Jewish Science, a Jewish spiritual movement originally led by Rabbi
Alfred G. Moses. Lichtenstein was referred to as the first American woman to lead a Jewish congregation. Ackerman was the wife of Rabbi William Ackerman, who had served the Reform
Temple Beth Israel in
Meridian, Mississippi. After her husband's death, Paula Ackerman accepted the role of acting rabbi from 1951 to 1953. At the start of this change, Ackerman received approval from
Maurice Eisendrath, then president of the
Union of American Hebrew Congregations. Although Eisendrath later withdrew his support, nevertheless, the congregation leadership upheld the appointment. Ackerman was dubbed "America's first Lady Rabbi".
1960s-present Beginning in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the efforts to shift the status quo on women gained momentum and institutional support. The
National Federation of Temple Sisterhoods, led by
Jane Evans, publicly campaigned for the recognition of women rabbis. Since then, Reform Judaism's
Hebrew Union College has ordained hundreds of women. The second denomination to ordain a woman rabbi was
Reconstructionist Judaism with the 1974 ordination of
Sandy Eisenberg Sasso. Since then, over 100 Reconstructionist women have been ordained.
Lynn Gottlieb becoming the first female rabbi in
Jewish Renewal in 1981. In 1985,
Amy Eilberg became the first female rabbi in
Conservative Judaism. In 1999,
Tamara Kolton became the first rabbi of any gender within
Humanistic Judaism. In 2006,
Dina Najman became the first Orthodox woman appointed as rabbinic leader of a synagogue. In 2009, there was controversy over the appointment of
Sara Hurwitz as an Orthodox woman rabbi; the situation of women within Orthodoxy is still debated today (see below: ). In 2018, Vered Hillel became the first woman to be ordained as a rabbi by the Messianic Jewish Rabbinical Council. (Note that
Messianic Judaism considers itself to be a form of Judaism but is generally considered to be a
form of Christianity.) In 2025 the
International Israelite Board of Rabbis voted to allow women to become rabbis, but it ruled that when women rabbis are considered ritually impure (for example during menstruation or after childbirth) others must do their religious duties. There have been many other "firsts" for women rabbis relating to a variety of backgrounds and nationalities (see:
Timeline of women rabbis).
Membership by denomination Since the 1970s, over 1,200 women rabbis have been ordained across all Jewish denominational associations and institutions with the majority associated with American institutions: •
Reform Judaism – Over 700 women rabbis are associated with Reform and Progressive Judaism worldwide: •
Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) – as of 2016, 699 (32%) of the association's 2,176 member rabbi were women. • Progressive Judaism in Europe – as of 2006, the total number of women ordained at the
Leo Baeck College was 30 (19%) out of all of the 158 ordinations completed at the institution since 1956. • Progressive Judaism in Australia includes 7 women (50%) out of the group's 14 practicing rabbis. •
Conservative Judaism – Around 300 women rabbis are associated with Conservative Judaism worldwide: •
Rabbinical Assembly (USA) – as of 2010, 273 (17%) of the 1,648 members of the Rabbinical Assembly were women. however, the titles Rabbi, Rabba, Maharat, Rabbanit, and Darshan are used interchangeably by the program's graduates. • Misc. (Israel) – private institutions in Israel have ordained 30 women rabbis, •
Reconstructionist Judaism – At least 50 women rabbis are associated with Reconstructionist Judaism worldwide: •
Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (USA) – between 1973 and 1996, a total of 73 women (40%) were ordained as rabbis from a total of 184 ordinations during that time. By 2021, more than half of all affiliated Reconstructionist congregations are led or co-led by women rabbis.
Statistics by denominational association •
Overall figures — The following table summarizes the total number of women rabbis associated with a denominational institution or association (estimate dates range from the late 1990s to the late 2010s, see ). •
Regional figures — The following table summarizes the total number of women rabbis associated by denominational institution and rabbinic association, listed according to the location of the institution or association (estimate dates range from the late 1990s to the late 2010s, see ). == Development by denomination ==