Adele Katzenstein Ginzberg (May 11, 1886 – May 10, 1980) was an American leader in

Conservative Judaism Conservative Judaism, known as Masorti Judaism outside North America, is a Jewish religious movement which regards the authority of ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions as coming primarily from its people and community through the generatio ...

. Born Adele Katzenstein in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

, Ginzberg was the daughter of Michael and Sophie Katzenstein; she was the eldest of three, with one brother, Max, and one sister, Martha. At eight she moved to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

after her mother died suddenly. She received a basic education, but was unable to study nursing, which was her desire; instead, she took a position in her father's real estate office. In 1909 she married

Louis Ginzberg Louis Ginzberg ( he, לוי גינצבורג, ''Levy Gintzburg''; russian: Леви Гинцберг, ''Levy Ginzberg''; November 28, 1873 – November 11, 1953) was a Russian-born American rabbi and Talmudic scholar of Lithuanian-Jewish desce ...

and moved with him to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. The couple had two children, Sophie (later Gould) and

Eli Eli most commonly refers to: * Eli (name), a given name, nickname and surname * Eli (biblical figure) Eli or ELI may also refer to: Film * ''Eli'' (2015 film), a Tamil film * ''Eli'' (2019 film), an American horror film Music * ''Eli'' (Jan ...

. Adele Ginzberg was for many years a monthly columnist for ''Outlook'', the magazine of the

National Women's League National Women's League may refer to: * National Women's League (Canada), a women's rugby union league in Canada * National Women's League (Ghana), a women's football league in Ghana * National Women's League (New Zealand) The National League ( ...

; it was she who initiated creation of what later became the Menorah Award badge for the Girl Scouts. She was a vocal supporter of women's equal participation in the ritual of the synagogue. With her husband, she took on the unofficial post of "Mr. and Mrs. Seminary" at the Jewish Theological Seminary, succeeding

Solomon Solomon (; , ),, ; ar, سُلَيْمَان, ', , ; el, Σολομών, ; la, Salomon also called Jedidiah (Hebrew language, Hebrew: , Modern Hebrew, Modern: , Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yăḏīḏăyāh'', "beloved of Yahweh, Yah"), ...

and Mathilde Roth Schechter; in this capacity the couple hosted open houses on Shabbat and on holidays. Ginzberg received numerous awards during her career; in 1966 she was named New York State Mother of the Year, and ten years later she was made a member of the Seminary's Honorary Society of Fellows. In 1980 she was posthumously awarded the Mathilde Schechter Award for her accomplishments.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ginzberg, Adele 1886 births 1980 deaths American Conservative Jews German emigrants to the United States Jewish activists