1935: World’s First Female Rabbi Is Ordained, in Germany

1935: World’s First Female Rabbi Is Ordained, in Germany

Regina Jonas remained outside the Orthodox establishment, but provided spiritual services in the concentration camps where she wound up and died.

Regina Jonas was ordained as a rabbi in Offenbach am Main, Germany. With an ordination certificate signed by the head of Germany’s Liberal Rabbis’ Association, Jonas is thought to be the first woman ever to receive ordination – though the country’s Orthodox rabbinate did not recognize her status. Less than a decade later, she was dead, having been murdered at Auschwitz.

Source: 1935: World’s First Female Rabbi Is Ordained, in Germany – This Day in Jewish History – Haaretz