Helen Levinthal (1910–1989)[1] was a significant figure in the early history of the acceptance ofJewish women in the rabbinate.
Helen Levinthal was the daughter ofIsrael H. Levinthal, an eminent New York rabbi, and had a significant Jewish education.[2] In 1939 she became the first American woman to complete the entire course of study in a rabbinical school, which she did at theJewish Institute of Religion in New York.[3] Her thesis was on women's suffrage from the point of view of Jewish law.[4] However, she only received a Master of Hebrew Letters (and a certificate recognizing her accomplishment) upon graduation, rather than a Master of Hebrew Letters and ordination as the men received, since the faculty felt it was not yet time for women's ordination as rabbis.[2][5]
In March 1939, before her graduation, her father invited her to preach in his synagogue, which she did on the topic of "The Jewish Woman Faces a New World".[5] She also spoke that year to a crowd of 900 at theShaarel Zion Community Auditorium on the topic of "The Future of Judaism".[6] In 1940 she preached at theHigh Holidays in Congregation B'nai Shalom in Brooklyn, as was noted inTime magazine.[7] Shortly afterwards, she became one of three women, the others beingJudith Kaplan andAvis Shulman, chosen by theJewish Center Lecture Bureau to lecture throughout the country on Jewish subjects.[5]
In 1988 theHebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion presented her with a "special certificate of recognition".[5] She died of a brain tumor in 1989.[8] Her obituary inThe New York Times called her "a pioneer in Jewish education for women".[8]
In 1991 the Helen Levinthal Lyons Memorial Scholarship was established in her honor at theNew Rochelle Campership Fund, by her former husband Lester Lyons.[9]
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