Mimi Feigelson | |
---|---|
Born | 7 March 1963 New York, U.S. |
Education | |
Occupation(s) | Rabbi and educator |
Website |
schechter |
Mimi Feigelson is an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, scholar, educator and spiritual leader. [1] [2]
Born in New York on March 7, 1963, [3] she moved to Israel at age eight and began studying with Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach at age sixteen. [1] In 1985 she completed a BA degree in history at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. [3] She says that in 1994, Carlebach granted her religious ordination ( smicha), normally reserved for men. [1] [4] [5] [6] Her ordination as well as that of Eveline Goodman-Thau was revealed in 2000 in an article by the New York Jewish Week. [7] [8] Feigelson is also described as being ordained in 1996 by a panel of three rabbis after Carlebach's death. [7] [9] [10] She earned a masters degree in Jewish philosophy at Hebrew University in 2000. [3] Upon completion of her studies she had expertise not only in Torah but also Chasidic literature and thought with a desire to teach all who wanted to learn. [1] In 2016 she earned her doctorate from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. [3] Her doctoral dissertation explores Jewish funeral rituals and how individuals can reclaim their funerals as the final chapter of life, rather than the first chapter of death. [11]
In 2001 she left her role as associate director and head of the women’s beit midrash at Yakar in Jerusalem, an Orthodox synagogue she helped found in 1992, [3] and moved to Los Angeles to teach in the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at University of Judaism where she was the students’ mashpiah ruchanit, or spiritual guide. [4] [8] She taught at the school until 2017, when she moved back to Israel to take a similar position at the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary in Jerusalem. [11] She uses the title "Reb" rather than "Rabbi" [8] and is universally known as "Reb Mimi". [11]
Feigelson was among the few Orthodox women rabbis to have received private ordination in the Orthodox Jewish context before the institutional change that resulted in the founding of Yeshivat Maharat. [9] Other women in her position include Haviva Ner-David and Dina Najman (both ordained in 2006). In 2010 she was recognized as one of the fifty most influential female Rabbis in the U.S by The Forward. [12]
Mimi Feigelson | |
---|---|
Born | 7 March 1963 New York, U.S. |
Education | |
Occupation(s) | Rabbi and educator |
Website |
schechter |
Mimi Feigelson is an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, scholar, educator and spiritual leader. [1] [2]
Born in New York on March 7, 1963, [3] she moved to Israel at age eight and began studying with Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach at age sixteen. [1] In 1985 she completed a BA degree in history at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. [3] She says that in 1994, Carlebach granted her religious ordination ( smicha), normally reserved for men. [1] [4] [5] [6] Her ordination as well as that of Eveline Goodman-Thau was revealed in 2000 in an article by the New York Jewish Week. [7] [8] Feigelson is also described as being ordained in 1996 by a panel of three rabbis after Carlebach's death. [7] [9] [10] She earned a masters degree in Jewish philosophy at Hebrew University in 2000. [3] Upon completion of her studies she had expertise not only in Torah but also Chasidic literature and thought with a desire to teach all who wanted to learn. [1] In 2016 she earned her doctorate from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. [3] Her doctoral dissertation explores Jewish funeral rituals and how individuals can reclaim their funerals as the final chapter of life, rather than the first chapter of death. [11]
In 2001 she left her role as associate director and head of the women’s beit midrash at Yakar in Jerusalem, an Orthodox synagogue she helped found in 1992, [3] and moved to Los Angeles to teach in the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at University of Judaism where she was the students’ mashpiah ruchanit, or spiritual guide. [4] [8] She taught at the school until 2017, when she moved back to Israel to take a similar position at the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary in Jerusalem. [11] She uses the title "Reb" rather than "Rabbi" [8] and is universally known as "Reb Mimi". [11]
Feigelson was among the few Orthodox women rabbis to have received private ordination in the Orthodox Jewish context before the institutional change that resulted in the founding of Yeshivat Maharat. [9] Other women in her position include Haviva Ner-David and Dina Najman (both ordained in 2006). In 2010 she was recognized as one of the fifty most influential female Rabbis in the U.S by The Forward. [12]