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[[File:Martha Neumark (colorized).png|thumb|1920 newspaper announcing Martha Neumark as the first Jewish woman to be admitted to rabbinical school (colorized)]] |
[[File:Martha Neumark (colorized).png|thumb|1920 newspaper announcing Martha Neumark as the first Jewish woman to be admitted to rabbinical school (colorized)]] |
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'''Martha Neumark''' (1904–1981<ref name="bare_url">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bd_AICOMwccC&dq=martha+neumark&pg=PA392 |title=Religions of the United States in Practice - Colleen McDannell - Google Books |date=2001-10-29 |isbn=0691010013 |accessdate=2012-04-14|last1=McDannell |first1=Colleen }}</ref>) was an |
'''Martha Neumark''' (1904–1981<ref name="bare_url">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bd_AICOMwccC&dq=martha+neumark&pg=PA392 |title=Religions of the United States in Practice - Colleen McDannell - Google Books |date=2001-10-29 |isbn=0691010013 |accessdate=2012-04-14|last1=McDannell |first1=Colleen }}</ref>) was an notable figure in the history of [[women rabbis|women's ordination as rabbis]] for being the first Jewish woman to be accepted into rabbinical school.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jwa.org/thisweek/jun/30/1922/ccar |title=This Week in History - Reform rabbis debate women's ordination | Jewish Women's Archive |publisher=Jwa.org |date=1922-06-30 |accessdate=2012-04-14}}</ref> |
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She was the daughter of a professor at [[Hebrew Union College]], and in 1921 she became the first female student at Hebrew Union College to declare her desire to become a rabbi.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jwa.org/womenofvalor/frank/first-woman-rabbi/women-in-rabbinate |title=Women of Valor - Ray Frank - The First Woman Rabbi? - Women in the Rabbinate | Jewish Women's Archive |publisher=Jwa.org |date= |accessdate=2012-04-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9wZ8TCsszREC&dq=martha+neumark&pg=PA4 |title=Hear Our Voice: Women in the British Rabbinate - Google Books |isbn=9781570030888 |accessdate=2012-04-14|last1=Sheridan |first1=Sybil |year=1998 }}</ref> That year she requested a [[High Holiday]] pulpit for the next year, just as her male classmates would receive.<ref name="bare_url" /> The president of the college told its board of governors that it made sense that if she did preach and complete the required courses, she should be ordained; this touched off a debate on women's ordination, as no woman had ever been ordained as a rabbi.<ref name="bare_url" /> The faculty approved her preaching if the congregation in question did not object, but later forbid it as she failed one of her courses.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uAkrJqbaPJQC&dq=%22martha+neumark%22&pg=PA271 |title=Religious Institutions and Women's Leadership: New Roles Inside the Mainstream - Google Books |isbn=9781570030734 |accessdate=2012-04-14|last1=Wessinger |first1=Catherine |year=1996 }}</ref> However, the debate on women's ordination she had sparked continued. In 1922 Neumark and her father attended the [[Central Conference of American Rabbis]] Conference, where she succeeded in convincing the CCAR to ordain women rabbis.<ref name="bare_url_a">{{cite web|url=http://jwa.org/archive/jsp/perInfo.jsp?personID=1017 |title=Personal Information for Martha Montor |publisher=Jwa.org |date= |accessdate=2012-04-14}}</ref> The CCAR declared in a responsa in 1922, "...woman cannot justly be denied the privilege of ordination," having voted 56 to 11 in favor of that statement.<ref name="bare_url" /> Yet the board of the college still refused to consider women for ordination, voting (as Neumark recalled) six laymen to two rabbis against it.<ref name="bare_url" /><ref name="bare_url_a" /> Neumark thus earned a qualification as a religious school principal instead of ordination, though she had spent 7 and a half years in rabbinical school.<ref name="bare_url" /> |
She was the daughter of a professor at [[Hebrew Union College]], and in 1921 she became the first female student at Hebrew Union College to declare her desire to become a rabbi.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jwa.org/womenofvalor/frank/first-woman-rabbi/women-in-rabbinate |title=Women of Valor - Ray Frank - The First Woman Rabbi? - Women in the Rabbinate | Jewish Women's Archive |publisher=Jwa.org |date= |accessdate=2012-04-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9wZ8TCsszREC&dq=martha+neumark&pg=PA4 |title=Hear Our Voice: Women in the British Rabbinate - Google Books |isbn=9781570030888 |accessdate=2012-04-14|last1=Sheridan |first1=Sybil |year=1998 }}</ref> That year she requested a [[High Holiday]] pulpit for the next year, just as her male classmates would receive.<ref name="bare_url" /> The president of the college told its board of governors that it made sense that if she did preach and complete the required courses, she should be ordained; this touched off a debate on women's ordination, as no woman had ever been ordained as a rabbi.<ref name="bare_url" /> The faculty approved her preaching if the congregation in question did not object, but later forbid it as she failed one of her courses.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uAkrJqbaPJQC&dq=%22martha+neumark%22&pg=PA271 |title=Religious Institutions and Women's Leadership: New Roles Inside the Mainstream - Google Books |isbn=9781570030734 |accessdate=2012-04-14|last1=Wessinger |first1=Catherine |year=1996 }}</ref> However, the debate on women's ordination she had sparked continued. In 1922 Neumark and her father attended the [[Central Conference of American Rabbis]] Conference, where she succeeded in convincing the CCAR to ordain women rabbis.<ref name="bare_url_a">{{cite web|url=http://jwa.org/archive/jsp/perInfo.jsp?personID=1017 |title=Personal Information for Martha Montor |publisher=Jwa.org |date= |accessdate=2012-04-14}}</ref> The CCAR declared in a responsa in 1922, "...woman cannot justly be denied the privilege of ordination," having voted 56 to 11 in favor of that statement.<ref name="bare_url" /> Yet the board of the college still refused to consider women for ordination, voting (as Neumark recalled) six laymen to two rabbis against it.<ref name="bare_url" /><ref name="bare_url_a" /> Neumark thus earned a qualification as a religious school principal instead of ordination, though she had spent 7 and a half years in rabbinical school.<ref name="bare_url" /> |
Revision as of 04:42, 26 December 2021
Martha Neumark (1904–1981[1]) was an notable figure in the history of women's ordination as rabbis for being the first Jewish woman to be accepted into rabbinical school.[2]
She was the daughter of a professor at Hebrew Union College, and in 1921 she became the first female student at Hebrew Union College to declare her desire to become a rabbi.[3][4] That year she requested a High Holiday pulpit for the next year, just as her male classmates would receive.[1] The president of the college told its board of governors that it made sense that if she did preach and complete the required courses, she should be ordained; this touched off a debate on women's ordination, as no woman had ever been ordained as a rabbi.[1] The faculty approved her preaching if the congregation in question did not object, but later forbid it as she failed one of her courses.[5] However, the debate on women's ordination she had sparked continued. In 1922 Neumark and her father attended the Central Conference of American Rabbis Conference, where she succeeded in convincing the CCAR to ordain women rabbis.[6] The CCAR declared in a responsa in 1922, "...woman cannot justly be denied the privilege of ordination," having voted 56 to 11 in favor of that statement.[1] Yet the board of the college still refused to consider women for ordination, voting (as Neumark recalled) six laymen to two rabbis against it.[1][6] Neumark thus earned a qualification as a religious school principal instead of ordination, though she had spent 7 and a half years in rabbinical school.[1]
In 1925 Martha's article “The Woman Rabbi: An Autobiographical Sketch of the First Woman Rabbinical Candidate,” was published in the Jewish Tribune and Hebrew Standard.[7]
Some of her personal papers are now held in the Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives at Hebrew Union College.[8]
References
- ^ a b c d e f McDannell, Colleen (2001-10-29). Religions of the United States in Practice - Colleen McDannell - Google Books. ISBN 0691010013. Retrieved 2012-04-14.
- ^ "This Week in History - Reform rabbis debate women's ordination | Jewish Women's Archive". Jwa.org. 1922-06-30. Retrieved 2012-04-14.
- ^ "Women of Valor - Ray Frank - The First Woman Rabbi? - Women in the Rabbinate | Jewish Women's Archive". Jwa.org. Retrieved 2012-04-14.
- ^ Sheridan, Sybil (1998). Hear Our Voice: Women in the British Rabbinate - Google Books. ISBN 9781570030888. Retrieved 2012-04-14.
- ^ Wessinger, Catherine (1996). Religious Institutions and Women's Leadership: New Roles Inside the Mainstream - Google Books. ISBN 9781570030734. Retrieved 2012-04-14.
- ^ a b "Personal Information for Martha Montor". Jwa.org. Retrieved 2012-04-14.
- ^ Antler, Joyce (11 May 2010). Journey Home - Joyce Antler - Google Books. ISBN 9781439138380. Retrieved 2012-04-14.
- ^ "Archival Resources on the History of Jewish Women in America". Womenst.library.wisc.edu. Retrieved 2012-04-14.