Thank you to RNS for posting this commentary by A. James Rudin about the world's first woman rabbi, Regina Jonas (1902-1944).
http://archives.religionnews.com/faith/faith-archives/commentary-obscure-no-more-worlds-first-woman-rabbi-receives-recognition
Does the year of her death--1944--worry you?
Yes, she was murdered at Auschwitz after interment in Theresienstadt, another Nazi concentration camp.
Extreme circumstances made it permissible for a woman to serve as rabbi. Jews were being rounded up and killed. Rabbis were becoming scarce, and the work was dangerous.
Sounds like women's work--no one else is available to do it.
Her early death and hidden work obscured her name from history for many years.
Thank you also to Katharina von Kellenbach, the scholar who unearthed records in East Berlin regarding this rabbi's life.
http://archives.religionnews.com/faith/faith-archives/commentary-obscure-no-more-worlds-first-woman-rabbi-receives-recognition
Does the year of her death--1944--worry you?
Yes, she was murdered at Auschwitz after interment in Theresienstadt, another Nazi concentration camp.
Extreme circumstances made it permissible for a woman to serve as rabbi. Jews were being rounded up and killed. Rabbis were becoming scarce, and the work was dangerous.
Sounds like women's work--no one else is available to do it.
Her early death and hidden work obscured her name from history for many years.
Thank you also to Katharina von Kellenbach, the scholar who unearthed records in East Berlin regarding this rabbi's life.
No comments:
Post a Comment