Joan Friedman became the first woman to serve as a rabbi in Canada in 1980, when she was appointed as an Assistant Rabbi at Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto. [1] Her appointment was followed shortly after by that of Elyse Goldstein as Assistant Rabbi from 1983-1986; Goldstein has been called the first female rabbi in Canada, but that is incorrect. [2] [3]
Friedman was ordained in 1980 (before she began as an Assistant Rabbi at Holy Blossom Temple) by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. [4] Later she was named solo rabbi at B’nai Israel in Laconia, New Hampshire. [5] She also worked as the Jewish chaplain at Colgate University for six years, as a congregational rabbi in Bloomington, Indiana for five years, and on the faculties of Colgate and American Universities. [6] As of 2003, she was the associate chaplain for Jewish and interfaith life and coordinator of the Program in Ethical Reflection at Carleton College. [6] As of 2016, she was Associate Professor of History and Religious Studies and Chair of Middle Eastern and North African Studies at the College of Wooster. [7]
She studied at the University of Pennsylvania as an undergraduate, and earned master’s and Ph.D. degrees in Jewish history from Columbia University. [6] She received her Ph.D. in 2002, and her dissertation was entitled " Solomon B. Freehof, the ‘Reform Responsa,’ and the Shaping of American Reform Judaism." [6]
Joan Friedman became the first woman to serve as a rabbi in Canada in 1980, when she was appointed as an Assistant Rabbi at Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto. [1] Her appointment was followed shortly after by that of Elyse Goldstein as Assistant Rabbi from 1983-1986; Goldstein has been called the first female rabbi in Canada, but that is incorrect. [2] [3]
Friedman was ordained in 1980 (before she began as an Assistant Rabbi at Holy Blossom Temple) by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. [4] Later she was named solo rabbi at B’nai Israel in Laconia, New Hampshire. [5] She also worked as the Jewish chaplain at Colgate University for six years, as a congregational rabbi in Bloomington, Indiana for five years, and on the faculties of Colgate and American Universities. [6] As of 2003, she was the associate chaplain for Jewish and interfaith life and coordinator of the Program in Ethical Reflection at Carleton College. [6] As of 2016, she was Associate Professor of History and Religious Studies and Chair of Middle Eastern and North African Studies at the College of Wooster. [7]
She studied at the University of Pennsylvania as an undergraduate, and earned master’s and Ph.D. degrees in Jewish history from Columbia University. [6] She received her Ph.D. in 2002, and her dissertation was entitled " Solomon B. Freehof, the ‘Reform Responsa,’ and the Shaping of American Reform Judaism." [6]