Alysa Stanton

Alysa Stanton (born c. 1964) is an African-American Jew. On June 6, 2009, she was ordained as the first African-American female rabbi.^[1][2] In August 2009 she began work as a rabbi at Congregation Bayt Shalom, a small majority-white synagogue in Greenville, North Carolina, making her the first African-American rabbi to lead a majority-white congregation.^[3] Stanton converted to Judaism at age 24 and first studied and worked as a psychotherapist.

Early life and education

Stanton was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and moved to Denver, Colorado, with her family at the age of 11.^[4][5] Although raised a Pentecostal Christian, when she was 24 Stanton converted to Judaism after considering several Eastern religions.^[5][6][7][8] She has said she was "born Jewish—just not to a Jewish womb".^[9]

Career

In her first career, Stanton was a psychotherapist.^[8] She specialized in grief counseling, and was asked to speak to people in Columbine after the 1999 high school massacre.^[10] Before preparing for the rabbinate, she sought to become a cantor, but heard that Jewish leadership positions were not available to women.^[11] When she finally saw a female cantor, she decided to pursue the studies necessary to become a rabbi.^[11]

Stanton graduated from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, a Reform Jewish seminary.^[6] She says she is not concerned with being the first Black woman to become a rabbi, "I try not to focus on being the first. I focus on being the best—the best human being, the best rabbi I can be."^[12] "If I were the 50,000th, I’d still be doing what I do.... Me being first was just the luck of the draw."^[13]

In August 2009, Stanton became the rabbi of Congregation Bayt Shalom, a small majority-white synagogue in Greenville, North Carolina.^[5] The congregation's president said that the fact that Stanton is African-American and a woman had nothing to do with the decision to hire her: "I'm very proud of my community. [Stanton's being a woman or being Black] never came up in conversation. Obviously, we all know that's unusual but when she got on the pulpit during her visit, it was totally comfortable."^[14] In 2011, the congregation decided not to renew her contract, which expired July 31, 2011.^[15]

See also

• Jews and Judaism in the African diaspora

Footnotes

Further reading

• Fishkoff, Sue (May 17, 2009). "First African-American Female Rabbi to Take Pulpit". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. http://blogs.jta.org/telegraph/article/2009/05/17/1005210/first-african-american-female-rabbi-to-take-nc-pulpit. Retrieved May 30, 2009. 
• Neroulias, Nicole (May 20, 2009). "10 Minutes with ... Alysa Stanton". Religion News Service. http://www.religionnews.com/index.php?/tenminutes/10_minutes_with_alysa_stanton1/. Retrieved May 30, 2009. 
• Hoffman, Melody K. (July 6, 2009). "1st Black Woman Rabbi's Journey To History". Jet: pp. 16, 18. 
• Gillick, Jeremy (July/August 2009). "Post-Racial Rabbis". Moment. http://www.momentmag.com/Exclusive/2009/2009-08/200908-Post-Racial-Rabbis.html. Retrieved July 28, 2009. 
• Yarrow, Allison Gaudet (November 11, 2009). "Shalom Y’all: New Rabbi Lights Up Southern Town". The Forward. http://www.forward.com/articles/118780/. Retrieved January 9, 2011. 
• Jacobs, Andrea (January 21, 2010). "Roots of Rabbi Alysa Stanton's Journey in Colorado". Intermountain Jewish News. http://www.ijn.com/denver/1468-roots-of-rabbi-alysa-stantons-journey-in-colorado. Retrieved January 25, 2011. 
• Birkner, Gabrielle (January 5, 2011). "Alysa Stanton, First Black Female Rabbi, Will Leave N.C. Congregation". The Forward. http://blogs.forward.com/sisterhood-blog/134486/. Retrieved January 9, 2011. 

External links

• Congregation Bayt Shalom