 "Photo: Jeremy Pharo/Staff Photographer")
Sally J. Priesand never dreamed of being first, she just wanted to be a congregational rabbi, and she knew it at age 16.
"I never thought very much of being a pioneer," Priesand said last Monday - addressing a group of students from Hillel.
The lecture was sponsored by Judaism Unplugged, an educational program that's part of Rutgers Hillel, said Talya Judovits, coordinator and Rutgers College junior.
Priesand said always had a passion for teaching, but until her teen years, was not sure in which field she would end up.
In 1972, Priesand became the first female in the U.S. to be ordained a rabbi. She received the honor at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati after her completion of her studies in rabbinic school.
Priesand was the only female in her 1972 graduate class - with no female faculty members either. She said she received both criticism and support during her time in rabbinic school.
"Some people thought I came to marry a rabbi - rather than be one," she said, laughing.
She credits her father to be one of her greatest supporters, but he passed away before he was ever able to see her be ordained a rabbi.
"My parents gave me one of the greatest gifts - the courage to dare and to dream," she said.
Priesand spent most of her childhood on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio, - known for its large Jewish population.
Although her parents were involved with their synagogue, they were not particularly observant, she said. When she was in eighth grade, Priesand's family moved to the west side of Cleaveland, made up of a predominately non-Jewish neighborhood.
She and her brothers were the only Jews in her high school. Priesand said this made her participation in religious school and youth group all the more essential.
"We were very active members of Beth Israel-West Temple - a very small congregation, that taught me important lessons about what it means to be a temple family and how central to Jewish life is the task of 'tikkun olam,' repairing the world," Preisand said.
Priesand said tikkun olam was one of the most important commandments she followed as a rabbi.
"Social action is an important part of what I do at the synagogue,"she said.
During one summer while she was still in high school, she received a $100 scholarship from her congregation to attend the Union Camp Institute in Zionsville, Ind., sponsored by the Union for Reform Judaism.
"For $100, my congregation in return received a lifelong commitment to the Jewish people," Priesand said.
After being ordained, she still had more obstacles to overcome.
"Because I was the first woman, I was the first to face all the problems," she said.
Many congregations refused to take her, while others wanted her for her publicity values.
"When it came time for me to find a job, I was the last person to find a job but in the end I got the best job," Priesand said.
Priesand's first position after graduation was as an assistant rabbi at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in Manhattan. She later went on to work as a part-time rabbi at Temple Beth-El in Elizabeth as well as a chaplain at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan.
Priesand served as rabbi for the Monmouth Reform Temple in Tinton Falls, N.J. from 1981 to 2006. In 2006, she became rabbi emerita before retiring in June.
Priesand explained she chose to become a congregational rabbi, because she liked interacting with members of her synagogue.
"It gives me an opportunity every week to read Torrah aloud and explore with my congregates the meaning of the text," she said.
Priesand said although she is the first woman in the world ever ordained by a theological seminary, she gave credit to the woman who she thought was the first practicing female rabbi, Regina Jonas.
Priesand said Jonas finished her theological studies at the Berlin Academy for Science of Judaism in the mid-1930s. Her thesis topic was "Can women become rabbis?" and practiced until 1940 primarily in homes for the elderly, Priesand said. The Germans sent her to a concentration camp - which lead to her eventual death in Auschwitz.
"I've always liked to think that whenever we gather to talk about the bold women in Jewish community, that our very presence brings honor to her memory," Priesand said.
When asked by a student what her most challenging moment as rabbi was, Priesand explained the difficulty of having to change emotions minute to minute.
At one point - over the course of two days - Priesand spent the night with a family from her synagogue whose child had died in a car accident. The next day she held a wedding service and later attended a baby naming ceremony.
"You have to be able to do these things and put your own things aside to be there for people," she said.
Judovits commented on Priesand's lecture.
"I thought it was wonderful," Judovits said. "It was very personal. She was very open about [her experiences]. She definitely is a role model for women, for people who just want to do something different and don't want to be shut down. I'm so glad she was willing to come and share her experiences with us."
Priesand is also a three-time cancer survivor.
"I happen to be a very private person, and - for some reason - chose a very public profession," she said. "The first time I got sick, I really didn't want people to visit me, but then I said, 'That's wrong. I've been teaching everybody about visiting the sick; I have to let people come to the hospital to visit me.'"
Priesand offered advice to women who aspire to become rabbis.
"Be yourself, maintain a sense of humor and go for it!" she said.
Although Priesand said she never thought much of championing women's rights, she acknowledged a patriarchal slant in theology.
"I grew up with the image of God as king - omnipotent and clearly male," she said. "But my congregation gave me the opportunity through experience, studying, discussion and experimentation to discover new models of divinity - and to know god embodies characteristics both masculine and feminine."
She added there has to be "a little bit of affirmative action" in the Jewish community, citing the civil rights movement idea of racial and social equality.
Following her retirement, Priesand remains active in her synagogue. However, she said she plans to devote more time to her love of painting and new dog.
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