Rebecca Dubowe is the first deaf woman to be ordained as a
rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
in the United States.
Life
Rebecca Dubowe was born in Los Angeles, and earned a B.A. in
Jewish studies
Jewish studies (or Judaic studies; he, מדעי היהדות, madey ha-yahadut, sciences of Judaism) is an academic discipline centered on the study of Jews and Judaism. Jewish studies is interdisciplinary and combines aspects of history (esp ...
from the
University of Judaism
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
Hebrew letters
The Hebrew alphabet ( he, אָלֶף־בֵּית עִבְרִי, ), known variously by scholars as the Ktav Ashuri, Jewish script, square script and block script, is an abjad script used in the writing of the Hebrew language and other Jewish ...
from
Hebrew Union College
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 ...
New Brunswick, New Jersey
New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat, seat of government of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Since 2015, she has been the rabbi at Moses Montefiore Congregation in
Bloomington, Illinois
Bloomington is a city and the county seat of McLean County, Illinois, United States. It is adjacent to the town of Normal, and is the more populous of the two principal municipalities of the Bloomington–Normal metropolitan area. Bloomington ...
.
Rabbi Dubowe also serves on the board of the Women's Rabbinic Network, the national organization for female Reform rabbis in America. During March and April 2010, she went on a national speaking tour to "share ersacred journey" and to educate others about the inclusion of people with disabilities in Jewish life and ritual. In 2010, the rabbi was also listed by The Sisterhood, '' The Jewish Daily Forwards women's issues blog, as one of 50 influential female rabbis in America. Rabbi Dubowe collaborated with Kalaniot Books in 2021 to introduce American Sign Language to the young readers of the Rabbi Kerry Olitzky picture book called ''The Candy Man Mystery.''