Alysa Stanton

Quality 0.50 · 0 views · Updated 2 months ago

American rabbi

title: "Alysa Stanton" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["american-former-protestants", "american-reform-rabbis", "reform-women-rabbis", "african-american-rabbis", "21st-century-african-american-clergy", "hebrew-union-college-–-jewish-institute-of-religion-alumni", "living-people", "religious-leaders-from-cleveland", "clergy-from-denver", "converts-to-reform-judaism", "converts-to-judaism-from-pentecostal-christian-denominations", "african-american-former-christians", "21st-century-american-rabbis", "20th-century-african-american-people", "1963-births"] description: "American rabbi" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alysa_Stanton" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American rabbi ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

FieldValue
honorific-prefixRabbi
nameAlysa Stanton
image[[File:Rabbi Alysa Stanton (4647673095).jpg
captionStanton at the White House
birth_date
birth_placeCleveland, Ohio
educationColorado State University; Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
occupationRabbi
::

| honorific-prefix = Rabbi | name = Alysa Stanton | image = [[File:Rabbi Alysa Stanton (4647673095).jpg|x150px]] | caption = Stanton at the White House | birth_date = | birth_place = Cleveland, Ohio | education = Colorado State University; Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion | occupation = Rabbi

Alysa Stanton (born August 2, 1963) is an American Reform rabbi, and the first African American female rabbi. Ordained on June 6, 2009, Stanton converted to Judaism at age 24 and first studied and worked as a psychotherapist.

Early life and education

Stanton was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and moved to Denver, Colorado, with her family at the age of 11. Although raised in the Church of God in Christ, when she was 24 Stanton converted to Judaism after considering several Eastern religions. She has said she was "born Jewish—just not to a Jewish womb". She earned her BA in psychology in 1988, an MA in education in 1992, from Colorado State University.

Career

In her first career, Stanton was a psychotherapist. Before preparing for the rabbinate, she sought to become a cantor, but heard that Jewish leadership positions were not available to women. When she finally saw a female cantor, she decided to pursue the studies necessary to become a rabbi.

Stanton graduated from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, a Reform Jewish seminary. "If I were the 50,000th, I'd still be doing what I do.... Me being first was just the luck of the draw."

In August 2009, Stanton became the rabbi of Congregation Bayt Shalom, a small majority-white synagogue in Greenville, North Carolina, In 2011, the congregation decided not to renew her contract, which expired July 31, 2011.

Footnotes

References

  1. Kaufman, David. (June 6, 2009). "Introducing America's First Black, Female Rabbi".
  2. Whitaker, Carrie. (June 6, 2009). "First Black Female Jewish Rabbi Ordained". [[The Cincinnati Enquirer]].
  3. (May 26, 2010). "White House steps up Jewish outreach amid criticism of Mideast policy". CNN.
  4. Dettelbach, Cynthia. (January 17, 2008). "Tenacity, Vision, Thick Skin for Aspiring Female Black Rabbi". Cleveland Jewish News.
  5. Sterling, Joe. (May 31, 2009). "A Black Woman's Journey to the Rabbinate in North Carolina". [[CNN]].
  6. Brand, Rachel. (May 2, 2002). "Rocky Road to the Rabbinate". [[The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles]].
  7. Cornwell, Lisa. (May 29, 2009). "1st Black Female Rabbi to Be Ordained in US". [[The Plain Dealer]].
  8. Birkner, Gabrielle. (May 18, 2009). "Black Female Rabbi to Ascend to North Carolina Pulpit". [[The Forward]].
  9. Musleah, Rahel. (Winter 2007). "One People Many Faces". Jewish Woman.
  10. Ain, Stewart. (May 20, 2009). "Pulpit of Color". [[The Jewish Week]].
  11. Davis, Merlene. (May 26, 2009). "Ready to Be First Black Female Rabbi". [[Lexington Herald-Leader]].
  12. O'Malley, Michael. (May 21, 2009). "Alysa Stanton Will Be the First Ever Black Female Rabbi". The Plain Dealer.
  13. Fishkoff, Sue. (May 6, 2008). "On Track to be First Black Female Rabbi". [[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]].
  14. Birkner, Gabrielle. (January 5, 2011). "Alysa Stanton, First Black Female Rabbi, Will Leave N.C. Congregation". [[The Forward.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

american-former-protestantsamerican-reform-rabbisreform-women-rabbisafrican-american-rabbis21st-century-african-american-clergyhebrew-union-college-–-jewish-institute-of-religion-alumniliving-peoplereligious-leaders-from-clevelandclergy-from-denverconverts-to-reform-judaismconverts-to-judaism-from-pentecostal-christian-denominationsafrican-american-former-christians21st-century-american-rabbis20th-century-african-american-people1963-births