\"America\'s First Female Rabbi\" Sally Priesand Signed FDC JG Autographs COA for Sale

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\"America\'s First Female Rabbi\" Sally Priesand Signed FDC JG Autographs COA For Sale

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\"America\'s First Female Rabbi\" Sally Priesand Signed FDC JG Autographs COA:
$129.99

Up for sale a RARE! \"America\'s First Female Rabbi\" Sally Priesand Signed First Day Cover Dated 1948. This item iscertified authentic by JG Autographs and comes with their Letter ofAuthenticity.
ES-5563

SallyJane Priesand(born June 27,1946) is America\'s first femalerabbiordainedby a rabbinical seminary, and the secondformally ordained female rabbi in Jewish history, afterRegina Jonas.Priesand was ordained by theHebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religionon June3, 1972, at thePlum Street TempleinCincinnati.After her ordination she served first as assistant and then asassociate rabbi atStephen Wise FreeSynagogueinNew York City, and later led Monmouth Reform Temple inTinton Falls, New Jerseyfrom1981 until her retirement in 2006. She is featured in numerous booksincludingRabbis: The Many Faces of JudaismandFiftyJewish Women who Changed the World. Sally Jane Priesand was born June 27,1946, inCleveland,OhiointoaJewishfamily. Her parents, Irving Theodore, an engineer,and Rose Elizabeth (Welch) Priesand]were not religiously observant but they wereactive in Jewish organizations. Her mother served as president of thesisterhood of their temple, while her father was president of aB\'nai B\'rithlodge.Her family lit Shabbat candles,celebrated Chanukah and had a Passover Seder to which the children wereencouraged to invite a non-Jewish friend to share in the festivities and learnabout Judaism.The family first attended a later attended Beth Israel-West Temple, aReformcongregation on Cleveland\'s West Side, wherePriesand began to display a commitment to Judaism and Jewish life as ateenager.Priesand did not becomeBat Mitzvahbut was confirmed and continued her religiousschool education through the twelfth grade.At the age of 16, she decidedshe wanted to be a rabbi.She later described her decision to become arabbi as \"an affirmation of my belief in God, in the worth of each individual,and in Judaism as a way of life.\" While still in high school,she requested admission information fromHebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of ReligioninCincinnati (HUC-JIR). In answer to her letter, the school responded: \"Weare pleased to learn of your interest in our college. ... Since you state inyour letter that your interests lean specifically to the rabbinate, we wouldhave to inform you candidly that we do not know what opportunities exist forwomen in the active rabbinate, since we have, as yet, not ordained anywomen.\"And another letter stated: \"... You mightalso ascertain from Rabbi Litt, and he in turn from other rabbis, just whatwould be the disposition of the rabbinate respecting someone like you who isinterested in being ordained by the College-Institute. While we have had womenstudents, none so far, has taken the full course of study which would lead tograduation and ordination as a rabbi. Therefore, some clear knowledge on yourpart of what it will mean to you to have graduated from our school is essentialfor you prior to your thinking about entering. The question of a woman as arabbi is a question for the rabbis rather than for the school. There is noattempt on our part to discourage you but to direct your thinking. ... \" EnteringtheUniversity of Cincinnatiin1964, she was accepted into the joint program of HUC-JIR and the University ofCincinnati. She graduated with aBachelorof Hebrew Letters and a Bachelor of Arts degreein English from HUC-JIR and the University of Cincinnati in 1968. Upon hergraduation, she was admitted to HUC-JIR\'s rabbinic school without undergoing aformal application process, being the only woman among 35 men.While still in rabbinical school, she receiveda great deal of attention from the media. In April 1971, she was the subject ofan article in theNew York Times, titled\"Her Ambition Is to Become a Rabbi – And a Housewife\", in which shestated: \"I\'m not an active supporter of women\'s lib. ... I don\'t need it.But I do think the feminist movement is important because it is time for us toovercome psychological and emotional objections. We must fulfill our potentialas creative individuals.\" Despite opposition – many said shewas at HUC-JIR to marry a rabbi and become arebbetzinrather than to officiate as a rabbi –she becamethe first woman at Hebrew Union College to make it to ordination, anaccomplishment she credits to her parents and to RabbiNelson Glueck, the college\'s president who died a few monthsbefore her ordination. Her thesis for herMaster of Artsin Hebrew Letters degree, \"Historicand Changing Role of the Jewish Woman\", published in 1975 under thetitleJudaism and the New Woman, highlighted the changing role ofwomen in Jewish history and was meant to advance their emancipation in Jewishreligious life. It was only many years later that she learned her ordinationcertificate from HUC had different wording for her title than the certificatesof men graduating with her. \"It came as a shock to me,\" she noted.\"When I was ordained I was told I would be getting an empty tube becausethey had forgotten to change the language to the feminine\" on theordination scroll. \"I just accepted that. When I finally got it I thoughtthe title, which they had changed to \'rav u\'morah,\' was what all my classmatesgot, too.\" In actuality, male candidates\' certificates identified them bythe Reform movement\'s traditional \"morenu harav,\" or \"ourteacher the rabbi,\" while female candidates\' certificates only used theterm \"rav u\'morah,\" or \"rabbi and teacher\", up until 2016.After four years of deliberation, HUC decided to give women a choice of wordingbeginning in 2016, including the option to have the same wording as men. Priesandwas ordained on June 3, 1972, by Glueck\'s successor as HUC-JIR\'s presidentRabbiAlfred GottschalkatthePlum Street TempleinCincinnati,[3]making her the first woman to be ordained as arabbi in the United States and believed to be only the second woman ever to beformally ordained in the history of Judaism. Gottschalk called the ordinationof Priesand \"historic\", one that breaks stereotypes and allows\"Jewish women to consider seeking the rabbinate\" and a testament toReform Judaism\'s efforts at achieving \"equality of women in thecongregation of the Lord\".By acquiescing to women\'s ordination at a timeof social and political changes in American life, the Reform movement portrayeditself as continuing its historic project of adapting Judaism to respond tomodernity while simultaneously demonstrating its commitment to women\'sequality. After her ordination, then member ofCongressBella Abzugarranged for her to deliver the openingprayer at theHouse ofRepresentatives, making her the first Jewish woman to do so. Uponordination, she was interviewed by some synagogues for her \"public value,so they could say they were first\", as she says, but others would notspeak to her, and she was the last of her class to get a job. She was offered aposition atStephen Wise FreeSynagogueinNew York City, where she served for seven years under RabbiEdward Klein,first as Assistant Rabbi and then as Associate Rabbi,leaving the congregation in 1979, when she realised that she would not succeedKlein as senior rabbi. Not able to find a full-time position, she served aspart-time rabbi of Temple Beth El inElizabeth, New Jerseyandas Chaplain at Manhattan\'sLenox Hill Hospitaluntil1981, when she became rabbi of Monmouth Reform Temple inTinton Falls, New Jersey.She originally thought her \"obligation was to get a biggercongregation\",but rejected the traditional model which encourages rabbisto look for larger pulpits and remained at Monmouth Reform Temple, acongregation of 365 families,where she \"forged a creative partnershipwith ... her congregation, acting upon her belief that a rabbi\'s primary taskis to help Jews take responsibility for their Judaism\". In1986 at Monmouth Reform Temple, she and cantor Ellen Sussman became the firstall-women team of rabbi and cantor in any congregation. Also during her rabbinate, Monmouth ReformTemple created a Social Action Committee which launched a nationallyrecognizedgun safetycampaign(Please ASK, which was given an award in 2003 by theReligiousAction Center of Reform Judaism),was a leader in the fightagainstdrunk driving,created a permanent Fund for the Homeless to support the work of InterfaithNeighbors, sponsored an annual food drive for The Center inAsbury Park, continued tohost an annualMonmouth Countyartsfestival, and instituted an annual \"Mitzvah Day\" of charitablevolunteerism.