Mimi Feigelson is an

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on M ...

rabbi, scholar and spiritual leader. Born in the United States, she moved to Israel at age eight and began studying with Rabbi

Shlomo Carlebach Shlomo Carlebach ( he, שלמה קרליבך; 14 January 1925 – 20 October 1994), known as Reb Shlomo to his followers, was a rabbi, religious teacher, spiritual leader, composer, and singer dubbed "the singing rabbi" during his lifetime. ...

at age fifteen. She says that in 1994, he granted her religious ordination (

smicha Semikhah ( he, סמיכה) is the traditional Jewish name for rabbinic ordination. The original ''semikhah'' was the formal "transmission of authority" from Moses through the generations. This form of ''semikhah'' ceased between 360 and 425 ...

), normally reserved for men. This was revealed in 2000 in an article by the ''New York Jewish Week.'' Feigelson is also described as being ordained in 1994 by a panel of three rabbis after Carlebach's death. She is currently a lecturer in the rabbinic school at

American Jewish University American Jewish University (AJU), formerly the separate institutions University of Judaism and Brandeis-Bardin Institute, is a Jewish institution in Los Angeles, California. Its largest component is its Whizin Center for Continuing Education in w ...

in Los Angeles, and the students’ mashpiah ruchanit, or spiritual guide. She uses the title "Reb" rather than "Rabbi." Mimi Feigelsohn was among the few Orthodox

women rabbis Women rabbis are individual Jewish women who have studied Jewish Law and received rabbinical ordination. Women rabbis are prominent in Progressive Jewish denominations, however, the subject of women rabbis in Orthodox Judaism is more complex. Al ...

to have received private ordination in the Orthodox Jewish context before the institutional change that resulted in the founding of

Yeshivat Maharat Yeshivat Maharat is a Jewish educational institution in The Bronx, New York, which was the first Open Orthodox yeshiva in North America to ordain women. The word ''Maharat'' () is a Hebrew acronym for phrase ''manhiga hilkhatit rukhanit Toran ...

. Other women in her position include

Haviva Ner-David Haviva Ner-David (formerly Haviva Krasner-Davidson) is an Israeli feminist activist and rabbi. Biography She received her BA from Columbia University and her PhD from Bar Ilan University and wrote her thesis concerning the nature of the relations ...

and

Dina Najman Dina Najman is the rabbi of the Kehilah of Riverdale, a synagogue in Bronx, New York city, founded in 2014, which describes itself as "an Orthodox Jewish Congregation dedicated to creating a serious and meaningful tefilah for our kehilah, committe ...

(both ordained in 2006).

References

Living people American Jewish University faculty American Orthodox Jews Women rabbis Year of birth missing (living people) Orthodox women rabbis {{rabbi-stub

See also

References