The world’s first female rabbi, Regina Jonas, was born on August 3, 1902, in Berlin and grew up in poor circumstances in the Scheunenviertel. Due to the early death of her father, she had to take on a lot of responsibility in her family as a child.
She studied at the world-famous College of Jewish Studies on what is now Tucholskystraße. In her written halachic thesis (an examination of the religious laws of Judaism), she addressed the question “Can women hold rabbinical office?” and wrote in her conclusion: “Apart from prejudice and unfamiliarity… there is almost nothing in halacha that forbids a woman from holding rabbinical office.”
Even after her ordination in 1935, she was not universally recognized. She often gave speeches and lectures, but was not allowed to take on many other functions, although, according to a letter from Max Brasch to the synagogue board, she was celebrated by many community members for her knowledge and abilities: “We cannot understand why a woman as a Rabbi with such oratorical talent and profound knowledge should not be allowed to preach from the pulpit of the New Synagogue.”
On November 6, 1942, she was deported with her mother to Theresienstadt, where she continued to practice her spiritual profession. On October 12, 1944, she was sent to Auschwitz and murdered there.
Sources/Literature:
- Elisa Klapheck: Regina Jonas. Die Weltweit Erste Rabbinerin (Jüdische Miniaturen, Band 4), Hentrich & Hentrich, Berlin 2003.
- Maren Krüger: Regina Jonas. Die erste Rabbinerin in Deutschland 1935–1942, in: Hermann Simon/Jochen Boberg (Hrsg.): Tuet auf die Pforten. Die Neue Synagoge 1866–1995, Stiftung Neue Synagoge Berlin – Centrum Judaicum, Berlin 1995, pp. 146–150.