thumb|Paula Ackerman

Paula Ackerman (; December 7, 1893 – January 12, 1989) is thought to have been the first woman to perform rabbinical functions in the United States, leading the Beth Israel congregation in Meridian, Mississippi, from 1951 to 1953—making her the first woman to assume spiritual leadership of a mainstream American Jewish congregation—and the Temple Beth-El in Pensacola, Florida, briefly in the 1960s. She led the National Committee on Religious Schools for the National Federation of Temple Sisterhoods.

Early life

She was born as Paula Herskovitz in Pensacola, Florida to Joseph Herskovitz (also Herschkovitz and Herskovitch), an immigrant from Romania, and Debora (), an immigrant from Germany. She had two brothers; both later changed their surnames to Hertz.

During World War I, she served as the secretary for the Pensacola branch of the National Jewish Welfare Board.

She married Rabbi William Ackerman in 1919, and the two of them lived in the same household in Pensacola with her parents and brothers per the 1920 United States census

In the mid-1930s, she served as the Mississippi president of the National Federation of Temple Sisterhoods (NFTS), a nationwide group for Jewish women affiliated with synagogues. NFTS is now known as Women of Reform Judaism (WRJ) and a major arm of Reform Judaism. From 1939 to 1945, she served on the organization's executive board.

As early as the 1930s, she was occasionally leading services at Temple Beth Israel in Meridian, Mississippi, where her husband was the rabbi. although she was never formally ordained. and a funeral in 1961. Because her work included performing marriages and funerals, the state legally recognized her status as a religious leader.

Regarding her chances of being selected for the job, Ackerman wrote to a friend, "I also know how revolutionary the idea is—therefore it seems to be a challenge that I pray I can meet. If I can just plant a seed for the Jewish woman's larger participation—if perhaps it will open a way for women students to train for congregational leadership—then my life would have some meaning." A woman would not be ordained in Reform Judaism until 1972, when Sally Priesand was formally made a rabbi.

See also

  • Timeline of women rabbis
  • List of Reform rabbis
  • Regina Jonas
  • Sally Priesand
  • Amy Eilberg

Further reading

Umansky, Ellen M. "Reform's Lost Woman Rabbi: An Interview with Paula Ackerman." Genesis 2, no. 17 (June/July 1986) 3: 18–20

References

  • Shuly Rubin Schwartz, From Rebbetzin to Rabbi: The Journey of Paula Ackerman, American Jewish Archives Journal, 2007.
  • Ellen M. Umansky, Paula Ackerman 1893 – 1989, an entry in Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia.