Maya Leibovich () is the first native-born female rabbi in Israel; she was ordained in 1993 at the

Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and remained in regular use as a first language until ...

in Jerusalem. Her parents were

Holocaust survivors Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no universall ...

. She became the rabbi of

Mevasseret Zion Mevaseret Zion () is a town and local council located to the west of Jerusalem, straddling both sides of the Jerusalem–Tel Aviv highway. Mevaseret Zion is composed of two distinct older townships, Maoz Zion and Mevaseret Yerushalayim, under ...

, and in 1996 applied for a lot to build a new synagogue in as her congregation was growing; the kindergarten that belonged to her community was burned down with a firebomb while the request was pending, but after Leibovich spoke with the mayor of Mevasseret and brought a delegation of Reform rabbis from the United States to back her at a council meeting, the council approved a plot of land for the synagogue, which was built. Leibovich is also the editor of the Mahzor HaKavanah Sh’Balev, as well as the Siddur Ha’avodah Sh’Balev, which are the

mahzor The ''machzor'' (, plural ''machzorim'', and , respectively) is the prayer book which is used by Jews on the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Many Jews also make use of specialized ''machzorim'' on the three pilgrimage festivals ...

and

siddur A siddur ( ''sīddūr'', ; plural siddurim ) is a Jewish prayer book containing a set order of daily prayers. The word comes from the Hebrew root , meaning 'order.' Other terms for prayer books are ''tefillot'' () among Sephardi Jews, ''tef ...

of the Reform Jewish movement in the former Soviet Union. Rabbi Leibovich was the 2014 Summer guest rabbi at Temple B'nai Israel of Petoskey, Michigan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leibovich, Maya Israeli Reform rabbis Reform women rabbis