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We are fortunate to have this new resource about a trailblazing Jewish feminist who would not take no for an answer. --Emily Schneider, The Jewish Book Council
A beautiful and inspiring story of how one young woman's vision, determination, and generosity enabled her to fulfill her dreams and also make history. --Dr. Judith Rosenbaum, CEO, The Jewish Women's Archive
Young readers will come away with an important and timeless lesson: 'Get up and get on with it.' Rabbi Sandy Sasso counsels, and follow your dreams. This delightful story book constitutes a moving tribute from one remarkable trailblazer to another. --Dr. Gary P. Zola, Professor, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, and Executive Director, The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives
Sally Opened Doors reminds us that everything is possible with hope, courage, and perseverance. In addition to its powerful life lessons, this book celebrates our communal history through Rabbi Sally Priesand's unique story. --Rabbi Mary L. Zamore, Executive Director, The Women's Rabbinic Network
The mod ern era has intro duced many changes into the lives of Jew ish women. Undoubt ed ly, one of the most notable was the Reform movement's 1972 ordi na tion of Sal ly Priesand as the first Amer i can female rab bi. As a token of our grat i tude, we have the very Jew ish oblig a tion to teach chil dren about her coura geous per sis tence. Priesand did indeed open doors for those women, and men, who acknowl edged the need for gen der reform in tra di tion al Jew ish spaces. Fifty years lat er, Sandy Eisen berg Sas so and Margeaux Lucas have craft ed an acces si ble intro duc tion to Rab bi Priesand's life, per fect for young read ers who may not real ize how firm ly shut those doors once were.
While Lucas's pic tures cap ture the time peri od, they also depict a mod ern iza tion that is cen tral to Priesand's quest. For instance, when she and a friend are con vers ing about the like ly oppo si tion to women in the rab binate, their dark brown hair and mid-cen tu ry fab ric pat terns stand out against the more gener ic con gre gants seat ed in front of them.
For Sasso's part, much of the sto ry relies on invent ed dia logue to advance the nar ra tive. While each sen tence accu rate ly reflects the atti tudes of the era, the cumu la tive effect is some what ide o log i cal. I now know what I want to do. I want to be a rab bi ... like you, remarks one grate ful young woman. Priesand's skep ti cal friend, whose jaw dropped at the mere notion of female rab bis, warns her that no one will accept her aspi ra tions: Sal ly ... look around! Women serve cof fee, tea, and cake after ser vices ... they nev er take out the Torah. There is no dis put ing the real i ty of these prej u dices, but the char ac ters who artic u late them seem more like sym bol ic adver saries than real people.
Sal ly Opened Doors is effec tive in that it focus es on the most impor tant parts of Priesand's life, sim pli fy ing cer tain issues for young read ers and main tain ing the momen tum of an excit ing sto ry. Yet some nuances are impor tant. One vis i tor to Priesand's syn a gogue rude ly con tends, A woman rab bi? Out ra geous! You start open ing the door to change, and this is what hap pens. Here it would be appro pri ate for Sas so to com ment on the irony of his objec tion. Reform Judaism, after all, was pred i cat ed on a per ceived need for change. Priesand's main con cern was not resis tance to change in gen er al, but the hypocrisy of those who opposed reform pure ly on the basis of gender.
Sas so and Lucas show case a Priesand who refus es to let naysay ers dis cour age her. Adults read ing this book with chil dren will have oppor tu ni ties to dis cuss the lim its imposed on women in the past and present, and to con sid er the ways in which a lit tle bit of anger might be pro duc tive in the face of ongo ing inequal i ty. We are for tu nate to have this new resource about a trail blaz ing Jew ish fem i nist who would not take no for an answer. --Emily Schneider, The Jewish Book Council
Rabbi Priesand became the assistant rabbi at a large synagogue in New York City, where she served for seven years, but when the congregation was ready to hire its senior rabbi, she was not even considered. For two years she was not able to find a synagogue willing to accept a woman as its only rabbi. Then in 1981 she became the rabbi of Monmouth Reform Temple in New Jersey, where she served for twenty-five years, until her retirement, upon which she became rabbi emerita.
Rabbi Sally Priesand became a leader in the Reform movement: she introduced inclusive God-language into worship; and she worked on behalf of those experiencing poverty, hunger, and homelessness.
Thirty-seven years before Sally, another woman, Regina Jonas, has become a rabbi in Berlin, Germany, but her story was forgotten for a long time. With Sally, a new era began for women who wanted to become rabbis. Two years after her ordination, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College ordained Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso (1974). The Conservative movement ordained Rabbi Amy Eilberg in 1985, and Open Orthodoxy ordained Rabbi Sara Hurwitz in 2000.
There are more than a thousand women rabbis in the world today.