Paula Ackerman
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Paula Ackerman (née Paula Herskovitz, December 7, 1893 — January 12, 1989) was the first woman to perform rabbinical functions in the United States (leading congregations from 1950 to 1954 and from 1962 to 1967). She also led the National Committee on Religious Schools for the National Federation of Temple Sisterhoods.
The former Miss Herskovitz married Rabbi William Ackerman in 1919. She first led a congregation full-time on December 12, 1950, when her husband died unexpectedly on November 30 of that year. Mrs. Ackerman had experience in the job, as she had led services before, while her husband was absent or ill. [1]
Mrs. Ackerman led the congregation at the Temple Beth Israel in Meridian, Mississippi, until a replacement was found in 1954 (she was not formally ordained, and served in the function for three years without having gone through the schooling process for ordination).
Regarding her chances of being selected for the job, Mrs. Ackerman wrote to a friend, "I also know how revolutionary the idea is—therefore it seems to be a challenge that I pray I can meet. If I can just plant a seed for the Jewish woman's larger participation—if perhaps it will open a way for women students to train for congregational leadership—then my life would have some meaning." A woman would not be ordained in Reform Judaism until 1972, when Sally Priesand was formally made a rabbi.
Mrs. Ackerman was born in Pensacola, Florida, and later performed services at her home temple, Temple Beth-El, from 1962 until a replacement was found five years later. She eventually moved back to Mississippi and died there in 1989.
