Laura Geller (born 1950) is an American rabbi. She serves as the rabbi emerita of
Temple Emanuel in
Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. B ...
.
Early life and education
Geller was raised in
Brookline, Massachusetts
Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, in the United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton, A ...
until she was 15, when her family moved to New York City. She attended the
Dalton School
The Dalton School, originally the Children's University School, is a private, coeducational college preparatory school in New York City and a member of both the Ivy Preparatory School League and the New York Interschool. The school is located in ...
, then graduated from
Brown University
Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...
in 1971.
Geller was ordained by the
Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
in 1975.
In 2000, she was part of the first group of rabbis to attend the
Jewish meditation
Jewish meditation includes practices of settling the mind, introspection, visualization, emotional insight, contemplation of Names of God in Judaism, divine names, or concentration on philosophical, ethical or mystical ideas. Meditation may accom ...
training program of the
Institute for Jewish Spirituality.
Career
Prior to her current position, she was the director of the
American Jewish Congress
The American Jewish Congress (AJCongress or AJC) is an association of American Jews organized to defend Jewish interests at home and abroad through public policy advocacy, using diplomacy, legislation, and the courts.
History
The AJCongress was ...
branch in Los Angeles from 1990 until 1994.
She was also the founding Chair of the City of Beverly Hills Human Relations Commission.
In 1994, she became the first female rabbi to lead a major metropolitan congregation,
Temple Emanuel in
Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. B ...
.
She was also the first female rabbi to become
Hillel director at the
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
in Los Angeles, a job she held for fourteen years.
While at Hillel, she co-organized the national conference "Illuminating the Unwritten Scroll: Women's Spirituality and Jewish Tradition."
She has been awarded the A.C.L.U. of Southern California Award for Fostering Racial and Cultural Harmony, the Alan J. Kassin Award for Outstanding Professional Achievement, the Los Angeles County Commission on the Status of Women Recognition Award, and the Woman of the Year Award from the California state legislature. In 2000, she was declared one of the "Hundred Most Distinguished Brown University Alumni of the Past Century," and in 2007 ''
The Forward
''The Forward'' ( yi, פֿאָרווערטס, Forverts), 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, ' ...
'' named her one of the "Forward 50 Individuals who are doing or saying things that are making a difference in the way American Jews view themselves (and who) have left a mark."
The ''Forward'' also named her one of the “50 Most Influential Woman Rabbis in America," and the PBS documentary The Jewish Americans featured her.
She served on the Board of Governors of the Hebrew Union College from 2001 until 2008.
She is a Rabbinic Fellow at the
Hartman Institute in Jerusalem.
In 2010 she was featured in the documentary fil
''Kol Ishah: The Rabbi is a Woman'' directed by Hannah Heer.
She wrote the pieces "Rediscovering
Regina Jonas
Regina Jonas (; German: ''Regine Jonas'';As documented by ''Landesarchiv Berlin; Berlin, Deutschland; Personenstandsregister Geburtsregister; Laufendenummer 892'' which reads: "''In front of the signed registrar appeared today... Wolff Jonas... a ...
: The First Woman Rabbi" and "Women Rabbis and Feminism: On Our Way to the
Promised Land", which appear in the book ''The Sacred Calling: Four Decades of Women in the Rabbinate'', published in 2016.
Other
The art exhibit “Holy Sparks”, which opened in February 2022 at the Heller Museum and the Skirball Museum, featured 24 Jewish women artists, who had each created an artwork about a female rabbi who was a first in some way.
[https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2022/05/13/jewish-contributions-in-cincinnati.html ] Ruth Weisberg
Ruth Weisberg (born 1942) is an American artist and Professor of Fine Arts at the University of Southern California, where she is also former dean of the USC Roski School of Art and Design. Weisberg's work is influenced by her Jewish heritage an ...
created the artwork about Geller.
See also
*
Timeline of women rabbis
This is a timeline of women rabbis.
* Pre-modern figures
** 1590–1670: Asenath Barzani is considered the first female rabbi of Jewish history by some scholars.
** 1805–1888 Hannah Rachel Verbermacher (the Maiden of Ludmir) was the only ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Geller, Laura
1950 births
Living people
People from Brookline, Massachusetts
People from the Upper East Side
People from Beverly Hills, California
Pembroke College in Brown University alumni
Brown University alumni
American Reform rabbis
Reform women rabbis
21st-century American Jews