Ellen Weinberg Dreyfus

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Ellen Weinberg Dreyfus is an American rabbi. She is a founder and former president of the Women's Rabbinic Network. [1] [2]

Contents

Career

She was ordained in 1979 at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) in New York, and is to her knowledge the first woman to be ordained as a rabbi while pregnant. [3] [4]

In 1983, she moved back to Illinois, becoming the first female rabbi in that state. [3]

In 2001, she became the first female president of the Chicago Board of Rabbis. [3] [4] [5]

In 2009, she was installed as the second female president of Reform Judaism's Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) in Jerusalem, making her the first female leader of a major rabbinic organization to begin her tenure in Israel. [6]

Also in 2009, she was also inducted onto the Board of Governors of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. [4]

The piece "From Generation to Generation: A Roundtable Discussion with Rabbi Ellen Weinberg Dreyfus", appears in the book The Sacred Calling: Four Decades of Women in the Rabbinate, published in 2016. [7] [8] [9]

Honors

In 2004, the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion awarded her an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree. [4]

In 2010, she was selected as one of the top 50 rabbis in America by Newsweek and the Sisterhood blog of The Jewish Daily Forward . [2]

In 2011, she received the Rabbi Mordecai Simon Memorial Award. [10]

Personal life

She is married and has three children. [4]

References

  1. ↑ "CCAR Journal - 9/97". Archived from the original on 2006-02-05. Retrieved 2014-01-26.
  2. 1 2 "The Sisterhood 50 –". Forward.com. 22 July 2010. Retrieved 2013-05-16.
  3. 1 2 3 Donna Kiesling (2001-07-04). "Rabbi stays at forefront of change - Chicago Tribune". Articles.chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2013-05-16.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "HUC-JIR: Press Room - Rabbi Ellen W. Dreyfus Inducted onto Board of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion". Huc.edu. 2009-05-04. Archived from the original on 2013-05-08. Retrieved 2013-05-16.
  5. ↑ "First woman named president of rabbi board - WorldWide Religious News". Wwrn.org. 2001-03-20. Retrieved 2013-05-16.
  6. ↑ "JUF News : Reform Jewish Rabbinate leadership remains in Chicago with new leader". Juf.org. Retrieved 2013-05-16.
  7. ↑ Hirshel Jaffe (4 May 2016). "The Message of the Sacred Calling: Our Journey to True Equality | RavBlog". Ravblog.ccarnet.org. Retrieved 2016-05-26.
  8. ↑ Zauzmer, Julie (2012-12-14). "'I not only envisioned it. I fought for it': The first female rabbi isn't done yet". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2016-05-26.
  9. ↑ "Contents". ccarpress.org. Retrieved 25 Oct 2025.
  10. ↑ "Chicago Board of Rabbis : Event Photos". Juf.org. Retrieved 2013-05-16.
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