Paula Ackerman (Hebrew:פאולה אקרמן; December 7, 1893 – January 12, 1989) is thought to have been the first woman to performrabbinical functions in theUnited States, leading theBeth Israel congregation inMeridian, Mississippi, from 1951 to 1953—making her the first woman to assume spiritual leadership of a mainstreamAmerican Jewish congregation—and theTemple Beth-El inPensacola, Florida, briefly in the 1960s.[1] She led the National Committee on Religious Schools for theNational Federation of Temple Sisterhoods.
She was born asPaula Herskovitz inPensacola, Florida to Joseph Herskovitz (alsoHerschkovitz andHerskovitch), an immigrant from Romania, and Debora (née Lang), an immigrant from Germany. She had two brothers; both later changed their surnames to Hertz.
DuringWorld War I, she served as the secretary for the Pensacola branch of theNational Jewish Welfare Board.[2]
She married Rabbi William Ackerman in 1919,[3] and the two of them lived in the same household in Pensacola with her parents and brothers per the1920 United States census[4]
In the mid-1930s, she served as the Mississippi president of the National Federation of Temple Sisterhoods (NFTS),[5] a nationwide group for Jewish women affiliated with synagogues. NFTS is now known asWomen of Reform Judaism (WRJ) and a major arm ofReform Judaism. From 1939 to 1945, she served on the organization's executive board.[6]
As early as the 1930s, she was occasionally leading services atTemple Beth Israel inMeridian, Mississippi, where her husband was the rabbi.[1] After his death from a heart attack, she became their leader and de facto rabbi from 1951 to 1953.[3]
She continued to lead the congregation at Beth Israel until a replacement was found in September 1953,[7] although she was never formally ordained.[1]
The rabbinic functions undertaken by Ackerman that were publicly reported in the press include the offication of a wedding in Meridian in 1953[8] and a funeral in 1961.[9] Because her work included performing marriages and funerals, the state legally recognized her status as a religious leader.
Regarding her chances of being selected for the job, Ackerman wrote to a friend, "I also know how revolutionary the idea is—therefore it seems to be a challenge that I pray I can meet. If I can just plant a seed for the Jewish woman's larger participation—if perhaps it will open a way for women students to train for congregational leadership—then my life would have some meaning."[10] A woman would not be ordained inReform Judaism until 1972, whenSally Priesand was formally made a rabbi.[10] Ackerman later performed services at her home temple,Temple Beth-El in Pensacola, from 1962 until a replacement was found nine months later.[7]
In 1981, Ackerman moved from Pensacola toAtlanta, Georgia. She died inThomaston, Georgia on January 12, 1989, aged 95.
In 1986 theUnion of American Hebrew Congregations held a ceremony at The Temple in Atlanta to recognize Ackerman's contribution to Jewish communal life.[1]
Some of Ackerman's papers are held in theAmerican Jewish Archives, in Cincinnati, Ohio.[1]
The novelThe Rabbi Is a Lady (1987) by Alex J. Goldman, was likely inspired by Ackerman's life story. In the novel, the widow of a conservative rabbi who is appointed to her late husband's pulpit. The work is also one of the earliest inclusions of women rabbis as literary figures to appear in American Jewish literature.[11]
Umansky, Ellen M. "Reform's Lost Woman Rabbi: An Interview with Paula Ackerman." Genesis 2, no. 17 (June/July 1986) 3: 18–20
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