Placement of Newly Ordained Women Rabbis

Half of the 18 women ordained last spring as Reform, Reconstructionist and Conservative rabbis were appointed assistant rabbis of congregations as of last November, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency’s annual survey of such appointments.

The 18 new rabbis brought to 110 the number of American women entering the rabbinate since the process began in the Reform movement more than 12 years ago. The recent placements resembled those of previous years, in that most of the newly ordained women rabbis assumed positions as assistant pulpit rabbis, while the remainder entered the fields of Jewish education or communal service.

Of last spring’s female rabbinical school graduates, 12 are Reform, five are Reconstructionist and one, Amy Eilberg, became the first Conservative woman rabbi.

REFORM

Barbara Abrahamson, of St. Paul, Assistant Rabbi, Peninsula Temple Beth El in San Mateo, Cal.

Laurie Coskey, of Beverly Hills, Cal., Assistant Rabbi, Congregation Beth Israel in San Diego.

Maria Feldman, of Toledo, Ohio, Assistant Rabbi, Temple Emanu-El in Sarasota, Fla.

Dayle Friedman, of Denver, Col., full-time Chaplain, Philadelphia Geriatric Center.

Barbara Goldman-Wartell, of Evanston, III., solo Rabbi, Congregation B’nai David in Visalia, Cal.

Linda Henry, of New York City, Assistant Rabbi, Temple Emanu-El in Manhattan.

Rachel Hertzman, of Louisville, Ky., Director, Outreach Program, Southeast Region, Union of American Hebrew Congregations in Miami, and part-time educator and youth director at Congregation Koi Ami in Plantation, Fla.

Karyn Kedar, of Baltimore, Md., teacher, Hod Ha’Sharon High School in Israel.

Charisse Kranes, of Cincinnati, Assistant Rabbi, Temple de Hirsch in Seattle.

Julie Spitzer, of Jacksonville, Fla., Assistant Rabbi, Temple Emanu-El in Livingston, N.J.

Susan Warshell, of Highland Park, III., Assistant Rabbi, Congregation B’nai Jeshurun, Short Hills, N.J.

Judith Zabarenko, of Rockford, III., Assistant Rabbi, Congregation Emanu-El in Houston.

RECONSTRUCTIONIST
Sandra Berliner, of Toledo, Ohio, solo Rabbi, Tiferes B’nai Israel, in Warrington, Pa.

Deborah Brin, of Minneapolis, Chaplain, Martin’s Run Retirement Community in Media, Pa.

Bonnie Goldberg, of Brooklyn, Director of Group Services, YM-YWHA in Philadelphia.

Andrea Gouze, of the Bronx, N.Y., made aliya to Israel.

Vivian Schirn, of Los Angeles, solo Rabbi, Temple Hatikvah, Flanders, N.J.

CONSERVATIVE
Amy Eilberg, of Providence, R.I., Chaplain, Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis.