Gesa Ederberg

German female rabbi

Gesa Ederberg (born 1968 in Tübingen, Germany) is a German rabbi; she became the first female pulpit rabbi in Berlin in 2007 when she became the rabbi of the New Synagogue, Berlin (Oranienburger Strasse Synagogue) in the former East Berlin.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] Her installation as such was opposed by Berlin's senior Orthodox rabbi Yitzchak Ehrenberg.^[1]

She converted to Judaism in 1995.^[3] She was ordained by the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem in 2003.^[5] She established a Conservative Jewish beit midrash in Berlin.^[5] She was part of the 2006 founding of the European Rabbinical Assembly of Masorti/Conservative Rabbis.^[6]

As of 2013, she was the executive vice president of Masorti Europe and the rabbi of New Synagogue, Berlin.^[7]^[8]

The 2022 art exhibit “Holy Sparks”, shown among other places at the Dr. Bernard Heller Museum, featured art about twenty-four female rabbis who were firsts in some way;^[9]^[10] Yona Verwer created the artwork about Ederberg that was in that exhibit.^[11]

Publications

Knobloch, Charlotte; Brumlik, Micha; Ederberg, Gesa S. (2007). Wenn nicht jetzt, wann dann? Zur Zukunft des deutschen Judentums [If Not Now, When Then? On The Future of the German Jewry] (in German). Wilfried Köpke. Verlag Herder. ISBN 978-3451293955.

References

^ ^a ^b "A lone groan for female rabbi in Berlin | Jewish Telegraphic Agency". jta.org. 31 May 2007. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
^ "MERCAZ USA Newsletter". mercazusa.org. Archived from the original on 28 February 2014. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
^ ^a ^b "After Long Path Female Rabbi Installed in German Community - InterfaithFamily". interfaithfamily.com. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
^ "Oranienburger Strasse Synagogue | The team of the Oranienburger Strasse Synagogue". or-synagoge.de. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
^ ^a ^b "Article Details". acjna.org. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
^ "Gesa Ederberg | Jewish Women's Archive". jwa.org. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
^ "Oranienburger Strasse Synagogue | The team of the Oranienburger Strasse Synagogue". or-synagoge.de. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
^ "Conservative movement launching seminary in Germany | Jewish Telegraphic Agency". jta.org. 16 October 2013. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
^ Eckerling, Debra L. (31 March 2022). ""Holy Sparks" Exhibition Celebrates 50 Years of Women in the Rabbinate". Jewish Journal.
^ "Holy Sparks: Celebrating Fifty Years of Women in the Rabbinate". HUC.
^ "VIDEO: HOLY SPARKS – Celebrating 50 Years of Women in the Rabbinate". Jewish Art Salon. 30 January 2022.

Women rabbis and Torah scholars

Timeline of women rabbis

Pre-modern
figures

Bible and Talmud	Deborah (1107–1067 BCE) Bruriah (2nd century)
Medieval and early modern era	Rashi's daughters (11th–12th century) Bat ha-Levi (12th century) Paula Dei Mansi (13th century) Miriam Shapira-Luria (14th century) Fioretta of Modena (1522–1580) Bayla Falk (16th century) Eva Bacharach (1580–1651) Asenath Barzani (1590–1670) Frehat Bat Avraham (d. 1756) Maiden of Ludmir (1805–1888)

Modern figures

Ray Frank (1861–1948)
Lily Montagu (1873–1963)
Regina Jonas (1902–1944)
Tehilla Lichtenstein (1893–1973)
Paula Ackerman (1893–1989)
Martha Neumark (1904–1981)
Avis Clamitz (1908-1991)
Helen Levinthal (1910–1989)
Sally Priesand (b. 1946)
Mimi Feigelson (b. 1963)

First ordination by denomination	Regina Jonas (Reform, 1935) Sandy Sasso (Reconstructionist, 1974) Lynn Gottlieb (Renewal, 1981) Amy Eilberg (Conservative, 1985) Tamara Kolton (Humanistic, 1999) Sara Hurwitz (Orthodox, 2009)