Francine Klagsbrun, born Francine Lifton in 1931, is a writer. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brooklyn College, a Bachelor of Hebrew Literature from the Jewish Theological Seminary, and a master's degree in art history from the Institute of Fine Arts. She edited ''The First Ms. Reader'' (1973) and ''Free to Be ... You and Me'' (1974). Some of her books are ''Too Young to Die—Youth and Suicide'' (1976), ''Married People: Staying Together in the Age of Divorce'' (1985), and ''Jewish Days: A Book of Jewish Life and Culture Around the Year'' (1996). There was a special commission appointed by the chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America to study the issue of ordaining women as rabbis, which met between 1977 and 1978, and consisted of 11 men and three women; the women were Francine Klagsbrun, Marian Siner Gordon, an attorney, and Rivkah Harris, an

Assyriologist Assyriology (from Greek , ''Assyriā''; and , ''-logia'') is the archaeological, anthropological, and linguistic study of Assyria and the rest of ancient Mesopotamia (a region that encompassed what is now modern Iraq, northeastern Syria, southea ...

. After years of discussion, the JTS faculty voted to ordain women as rabbis and as cantors in 1983. In 1988, at the First International Jewish Feminist Conference in Jerusalem, a group of women organized a prayer service at the

Western Wall The Western Wall ( he, הַכּוֹתֶל הַמַּעֲרָבִי, HaKotel HaMa'aravi, the western wall, often shortened to the Kotel or Kosel), known in the West as the Wailing Wall, and in Islam as the Buraq Wall (Arabic: حَائِط � ...

and selected Klagsbrun to carry the

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...

at the head of the group, making her the first woman to carry a Torah to the Western Wall. In 1989 she helped dedicate a Torah to the

Women of the Wall Women of the Wall (Hebrew: נשות הכותל, ''Neshot HaKotel'') is a multi-denominational Jewish feminist organization based in Israel whose goal is to secure the rights of women to pray at the Western Wall, also called the Kotel, in a fashi ...

. She has served as chairwoman of the Board of Overseers of the

Jewish Theological Seminary Library The Jewish Theological Seminary Library is one of the largest Jewish libraries in the world. Founded in 1893, it is located at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York City, New York, and holds over 400,000 volumes, as well as exten ...

and secretary of the board of trustees of the Jewish Museum and cochair of its exhibitions committee, as well as a member of the Publication Committee of the

Jewish Publication Society of America The Jewish Publication Society (JPS), originally known as the Jewish Publication Society of America, is the oldest nonprofit, nondenominational publisher of Jewish works in English. Founded in Philadelphia in 1888, by reform Rabbi Joseph Krausko ...

, the Professional Advisory Board of the Petschek National Jewish Family Center of the American Jewish Committee, and the Artistic Advisory Committee of the

National Foundation for Jewish Culture The Foundation for Jewish Culture (formerly the National Foundation for Jewish Culture) was an advocacy group for Jewish cultural life and creativity in the United States. Founded in 1960, it supported writers, filmmakers, artists, composers, ch ...

Bibliography

* Klagsbrun, Francine. Story of Moses. London, New York, Franklin Watts Ltd.

971 Year 971 ( CMLXXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Battle of Dorostolon: A Byzantine expeditionary army (possibly 30–40,000 men) ...

* Klagsbrun, Francine. Read about the sanitation man. Pictures by Allan Eitzen. New York, F. Watts, 1972. * Klagsbrun, Francine. Story of Moses. New York, F. Watts

968 Year 968 ( CMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Emperor Nikephoros II receives a Bulgarian embassy led by Prince Boris (th ...

* Klagsbrun, Francine. Your health; nutrition, by Francine Klagsbrun and Samuel C. Klagsbrun. Illustrated by Howard Berelson. New York, F. Watts

969 Year 969 ( CMLXIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar, the 969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 1st millennium, the 69th ...

* Klagsbrun, Francine. Read about the parkman. Pictures by Pamela Baldwin-Ford. New York, Watts

* Klagsbrun, Francine. Read about the librarian. Illustrated by Dan Nevins. New York, F. Watts

970 Year 970 ( CMLXX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar, the 970th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' designations, the 970th year of the 1st millennium, the 70th yea ...

* Voices of wisdom : Jewish ideals & ethics for everyday living / ompiled byFrancine Klagsbrun. Boston : D.R. Godine, 1990. * Words of women / compiled and edited by Francine Klagsbrun. Chicago : J. G. Ferguson Pub. Co. ; New York : distributed by Doubleday,

975 Year 975 ( CMLXXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Arab–Byzantine War: Emperor John I raids Mesopotamia and invades Syria, using ...

* Klagsbrun, Francine. Freedom now! The story of the abolitionists. Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1972 * United Press International. Assassination: Robert F. Kennedy, 1925-1968, by the editors of United Press International and Cowles. Edited by Francine Klagsbrun and David C. Whitney. ew YorkCowles

* Klagsbrun, Francine. Married people : staying together in the age of divorce / Francine Klagsbrun. Toronto ; New York : Bantam Books, 1985. * Klagsbrun, Francine. Mixed feelings : love, hate, rivalry, and reconciliation among brothers and sisters / Francine Klagsbrun. New York : Bantam Books, 1992. * Klagsbrun, Francine. Psychiatry: what it is, what it does; a book for young people. Illustrated by Mel Fowler. New York, F. Watts

* Klagsbrun, Francine. Read about the teacher. Illustrated by Pat Grant Porter. New York, Watts

* Klagsbrun, Francine. Sigmund Freud. New York, F. Watts 967* Voices of wisdom : Jewish ideals and ethics for everyday living / ompiled byFrancine Klagsbrun ; illustrated by Mark Podwal. New York : Pantheon Books, c1980 * Klagsbrun, Francine, Lioness : Golda Meir and the nation of Israel / Francine Klagsbrun. New York : Schocken Books, 017* Klagsbrun, Francine. Too young to die : youth and suicide / Francine Klagsbrun. New York : Pocket Books, 1981. * Klagsbrun, Francine. Fourth Commandment : remember the Sabbath day / Francine Klagsbrun. New York : Harmony Books, c2002. * Klagsbrun, Francine. Jewish days : a book of Jewish life and culture around the year / Francine Klagsbrun ; illustrated by Mark Podwal. New York : Farrar, Straus, Giroux, c1996 * Klagsbrun, Francine. Too young to die : youth and suicide / by Francine Klagsbrun. Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 1976. * Klagsbrun, Francine. First book of spices. Illustrated by Penelope Naylor. New York, F. Watts

Awards

* 2017:

National Jewish Book Award The Jewish Book Council (Hebrew: ), founded in 1944, is an organization encouraging and contributing to Jewish literature.1931 births Jewish American writers Living people Brooklyn College alumni