Rebecca Dubowe is the first deaf woman to be ordained as a
rabbi
A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...
in the United States.
Life
Rebecca Dubowe was born in Los Angeles, and earned a
B.A.
A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...
in
Jewish studies
Jewish studies (or Judaic studies; ) is an academic discipline centered on the study of Jews and Judaism. Jewish studies is interdisciplinary and combines aspects of history (especially Jewish history), Middle Eastern studies, Asian studies, ...
from the
University of Judaism
A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...
and an
M.A.
A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...
in
Hebrew letters
The Hebrew alphabet (, ), known variously by scholars as the Ktav Ashuri, Jewish script, square script and block script, is a unicameral abjad script used in the writing of the Hebrew language and other Jewish languages, most notably Yiddish ...
from
Hebrew Union College
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 ...
. Rabbi Dubowe was ordained in 1993 by the American Reform seminary
Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion
The Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion (also known as HUC, HUC-JIR, and The College-Institute) is a Jewish seminary with three locations in the United States and one location in Jerusalem. It is the oldest extant Jewish semi ...
and served as Associate Rabbi from 1993 to 1997 at Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple in
New Brunswick, New Jersey
New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Since 2015, she has been the rabbi at Moses Montefiore Congregation in
Bloomington, Illinois
Bloomington is a city in McLean County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census showed the city had a population of 78,680, making it the List of municipalities in Illinois, 13th-most populous ci ...
.
Rabbi Dubowe also serves on the board of the
Women's Rabbinic Network
Women's Rabbinic Network is, according to itself, “the organization of Reform female, nonbinary, genderfluid rabbis, supporting and advocating for our members and the values we uphold to positively impact women in the Jewish community.”
Ellen ...
, the national organization for female Reform rabbis in America. During March and April 2010, she went on a national speaking tour to "share ersacred journey" and to educate others about the inclusion of people with disabilities in Jewish life and ritual. In 2010, the rabbi was also listed by The Sisterhood, ''
The Jewish Daily Forward
''The Forward'' (), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ''The New York Times'' reported that Set ...
s women's issues blog, as one of 50 influential female rabbis in America. Rabbi Dubowe collaborated with Kalaniot Books in 2021 to introduce American Sign Language to the young readers of the Rabbi Kerry Olitzky picture book called ''The Candy Man Mystery.''
See also
*
Timeline of women rabbis
This is a timeline of women rabbis:
* 1930s
** 1935: In Germany, Regina Jonas became the first woman to be ordained as a rabbi.
* 1970s:
** 1972: Sally Priesand became America's first female rabbi ordained by a rabbinical seminary, and the secon ...