Amy Eilberg
Encyclopedia
Amy Eilberg is the first female rabbi ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
Jewish Theological Seminary of America
The Jewish Theological Seminary of America is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism, and a major center for academic scholarship in Jewish studies.JTS operates five schools: Albert A...

, one of the academic centers and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...

.

Youth and early life

Eilberg was born October 12, 1954, in Philadelphia, USA. Her father, Joshua Eilberg
Joshua Eilberg
Joshua Eilberg was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.-Early life and education:Eilburg was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...

, represented Pennsylvania in the U.S. House of Representatives, and her mother, Gladys, was a social worker. Her parents were not particularly observant Jews, but when Eilerg was fourteen, she convinced them to follow the dietary laws of kashrut
Kashrut
Kashrut is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha is termed kosher in English, from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the Hebrew term kashér , meaning "fit" Kashrut (also kashruth or kashrus) is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha (Jewish law) is termed...

. In high school, she was involved in the United Synagogue Youth
United Synagogue Youth
United Synagogue Youth is the youth movement of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. USY operates in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The goal of the movement is to bring Jewish teenagers closer to Judaism and Israel through learning and social interaction...

 and later she was at Camp Ramah
Camp Ramah
Camp Ramah is a network of Jewish summer camps affiliated with the Conservative Movement. The camps operate in the United States, Canada, and Israel. Ramah camps serve kosher food and are Shabbat-observant.-History:...

.

Eilberg attended Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...

 in 1972 and continued to pursue her interest in Judaism. She had a major in Jewish Studies, and also she became an active member of Hillel International in the campus. While at Brandeis she learned how to read the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...

 and she explored her relationship to Jewish ritual. In 1976 she graduated from Brandeis and enrolled in Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) to do graduate work in Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....

. After receiving her masters degree, she taught at Midreshet Yerushalayim, an intensive training school run by the JTS in Israel. When she found out that JTS had tabled the question of women's ordination in 1979, she was disappointed but decided that she would continue to study. She enrolled in a social work program at Smith College
Smith College
Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...

 and in 1984 received her masters of social work.

Rabbinical school

Eilberg was among the first group of women who immediately signed up for classes in the rabbinical school in the fall of 1984. Since the early 1970s, leaders of the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) had engaged in serious discussions and many debates about women's ordination in Conservative Judaism . Hastened by the Reform movement's decision to ordain Sally Priesand
Sally Priesand
Sally Jane Priesand is America's first ordained female rabbi, and the second ordained female rabbi in the world, after Regina Jonas.-Early life:...

 in 1972 and the Reconstructionist movement to ordain Sandy Eisenberg Sasso
Sandy Eisenberg Sasso
Sandy Eisenberg Sasso is the first woman to have been ordained a rabbi in the Reconstructionist movement of Judaism. She was ordained by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Philadelphia, on May 19, 1974. She is also an author of many children's book on religious topics.-Youth and Early...

 in 1974, members of the Rabbinical Assembly, the central organization of Conservative rabbis, initiated exploratory studies about Jewish legal attitudes toward women's ordination.Gerson Cohen, chancellor of JTS from 1972 to 1986, became an active proponent of the admission of women into rabbinical programs after reviewing the conclusions of one study conducted in the late 1970s. In October 1983, shortly after the death of Rabbi Saul Lieberman, who had been an indomitable rabbi against women's ordination, the faculty of JTS voted to allow women to enter their rabbinical school. (See Nadell, Pamela S., "Women Who Would Be Rabbis: A History of Women's Ordination, 1889-1985" in Jewish Women's Life.) As of 2004, the JTS has ordained more than 150 women rabbis and the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies has ordained approximately 30.

Rabbinical life

Ordained on May 12, 1985, at the age of 30, Eilberg was the first woman appointed to serve on the Rabbinical Assembly
Rabbinical Assembly
The Rabbinical Assembly is the international association of Conservative rabbis. The RA was founded in 1901 to shape the ideology, programs, and practices of the Conservative movement. It publishes prayerbooks and books of Jewish interest, and oversees the work of the Committee on Jewish Law and...

's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards
Committee on Jewish Law and Standards
The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards is the central authority on halakha within Conservative Judaism; it is one of the most active and widely known committees on the Conservative movement's Rabbinical Assembly. Within the movement it is known as the CJLS...

 in 1986. She started her career at a Hospital in Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...

 and then became the assistant rabbi at Har Zion Temple near Philadelphia. In 1989, she stepped down from that position at this synagogue, and in her resignation letter explained that her desire to spend more time with her daughter was one of the primary motivations for her decision. She also realized that her true passion was for social work in Hospital. She co-founded the Bay Area Jewish Healing Center in San Francisco and devoted her energy to understanding Jewish ways of healing and helping the sick. At the height of the AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

 crisis, the Jewish Healing Center offered spiritual care to Jews people living with illness, death, and loss.

Eilberg has been married twice, first to Howard Eilberg-Schwartz, and then, in 1996, to Louis E. Newman
Louis E. Newman
Louis E. Newman is the John M. and Elizabeth W. Musser Professor of Religious Studies, Humphrey Doermann Professor of Liberal Learning, and Director of the Perlman Center for Learning and Teaching at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota...

, a professor of Judaic Studies at Carleton College. She has one daughter, Penina, from her first marriage, and two stepsons, Etan and Jonah, from her second. She currently lives in Mendota Heights, Minnesota, where she works for the Jay Phillips Center for Interfaith Learning and is involved in peace work. She also regularly teaches about Jewish healing, spirituality, and peace. Eilberg is a regular member of Beth Jacob Congregation in Mendota Heights.

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