Deborah Kahn-Harris

21st century Rabbi and Principal of Leo Baeck College

Deborah Kahn-Harris is the Principal of Leo Baeck College, a rabbinical seminary and centre for the training of teachers in Jewish education, based at the Sternberg Centre, Finchley, in the London Borough of Barnet. She was appointed to the post in September 2011.^[1] Kahn-Harris, a graduate of the college, is one of the first woman rabbis to lead a mainstream rabbinic seminary.^[2]^[3]

Early life and education

Kahn-Harris was brought up in Houston, Texas, United States.^[4] She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History from Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts^[4] and a doctorate in biblical studies from the University of Sheffield.

Career

Kahn-Harris was one of the members of the rabbinic staff at Sha'arei Tsedek North London Reform Synagogue and a lecturer at Leo Baeck College before her appointment as the college's principal.^[5]

Personal life

She has both American and British citizenship^[6] and is married to the writer, lecturer, and music critic Keith Kahn-Harris, with whom she has two children.^[5]

Publications

"Midrash for the Masses: The Uses (and Abuses) of the Term ‘Midrash’ in Contemporary Feminist Discourse" in Feminist Theology, May 2013, vol. 21 no. 3, pp. 295-308
"Weaning: Personal and Biblical Reflections" in Grushcow, Lisa J (ed): The Sacred Encounter: Jewish Perspectives on Sexuality, Central Conference of American Rabbis, 2014
Polyamory and Reading the Book of Ruth, Lexington Books 2023

References

^ "History". Leo Baeck College. Archived from the original on 29 December 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
^ "Induction of New Principal of Leo Baeck College". Movement for Reform Judaism. 1 March 2012. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
^ Rocker, Simon (22 April 2020). "Leo Baeck picks its first woman head". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
^ ^a ^b "Rabbi Dr Deborah Kahn-Harris". Leo Baeck College. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
^ ^a ^b "Rabbi Dr Deborah Kahn-Harris". Liberal Judaism. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
^ "Kabbalat Shabbat service: Shabbat Eve March 16, 2012". Drasha Rabbi Dr. Deborah Kahn-Harris. European Union for Progressive Judaism. 16 March 2012. Archived from the original on 21 September 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2016.

External links

Leo Baeck College profile: Deborah Kahn-Harris Archived 3 February 2016 at the Wayback Machine
Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies: Deborah Kahn-Harris Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
Open University video interview: Rabbi Dr Deborah Kahn-Harris, 2012
Dresden lecture on Theodicy by Rabbi Deborah Kahn-Harris, Principal Leo Baeck College, London, European Union for Progressive Judaism (EUPJ) Biennial, 27 May 2014

Women rabbis and Torah scholars

Timeline of women rabbis

Pre-modern
figures

Bible and Talmud	Deborah (1107–1067 BCE) Bruriah (2nd century)
Medieval and early modern era	Rashi's daughters (11th–12th century) Bat ha-Levi (12th century) Paula Dei Mansi (13th century) Miriam Shapira-Luria (14th century) Fioretta of Modena (1522–1580) Bayla Falk (16th century) Eva Bacharach (1580–1651) Asenath Barzani (1590–1670) Frehat Bat Avraham (d. 1756) Maiden of Ludmir (1805–1888)

Modern figures

Ray Frank (1861–1948)
Lily Montagu (1873–1963)
Regina Jonas (1902–1944)
Tehilla Lichtenstein (1893–1973)
Paula Ackerman (1893–1989)
Martha Neumark (1904–1981)
Avis Clamitz (1908-1991)
Helen Levinthal (1910–1989)
Sally Priesand (b. 1946)
Mimi Feigelson (b. 1963)

First ordination by denomination	Regina Jonas (Reform, 1935) Sandy Sasso (Reconstructionist, 1974) Lynn Gottlieb (Renewal, 1981) Amy Eilberg (Conservative, 1985) Tamara Kolton (Humanistic, 1999) Sara Hurwitz (Orthodox, 2009)