משתמשת:Genevieve/ארגז חול045
Sandy Eisenberg Sasso became the first women[1] Reconstructionist Rabbi when she was ordained by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Philadelphia , on May 19, 1974. She is a notable children’s books author.
Youth and Early Life
עריכהShe was born (in 1947) at Philadelphia, USA. Sandy Eisenberg's interest in Judaism was cultivated during her adolescence. Very involved in her youth group of Reform Philadelphia Communauty, Sandy Eisenberg thought from the age of 16 years that she would like to become a rabbi even though she was aware that this role had not been open to women. She recalls that during the high school.
Rabbinical school
עריכהIn the fall of 1969,She joined the Rabbinical College's second class of rabbinical students[2].While in school, Sandy Eisenberg married her classmate, Dennis Sasso, making them the first rabbinical couple in Jewish history. Like the Reform movement's Sally Priesand, who became the first woman ordained by a rabbinical seminary in 1972, Sasso found that, as a rabbinical student, others looked to her as a voice for women's roles and progress within Judaism. She soon became identified as one of the voices of feminist Judaism[3]
Rabbinical life
עריכהAfter her ordination, Sandy Eisenberg Sasso served as rabbi of the Manhattan Reconstructionist Congregation. In 1977, she and her husband were hired to serve as the rabbis of Beth El Zedeck in Indianapolis, which is identified both with the Conservative and Reconstructionist movements. She thus became the first woman to serve a Conservative congregation and the first woman to serve as rabbi in partnership with her husband at the same congregation. Not surprisingly, Sasso holds title to many firsts as a woman rabbi, including becoming the first rabbi to become a mother when her son David was born on June 22, 1976.
Rabbi Sasso is very active in interfaith activities and lectures at Butler University in Indianapolis. She is the author of eleven acclaimed children's books[4] as well as a monthly column on religion and spirituality for the Indianapolis Star. Today, Sasso and her husband serve as the senior rabbis of Congregation Beth El Zedeck[5] in Indianapolis.
Writings
עריכהCall Them Builders: A Resource Booklet about Jewish Attitudes and Practices on Birth and Family Life , Reconstructionist Federation of Congregations and Havurot (New York), 1977.
Putting God on the Guest List: How to Reclaim the Spiritual Meaning of Your Child's Bar or Bat Mitzvah , Jewish Lights Publishing (Woodstock, Vermont), 1992.
God's Paintbrush, illustrated by Annette C. Compton, Jewish Lights Publishing (Woodstock, VT), 1992. God's Paintbrush, presents short essays on a variety of experiences common to children, along with related questions for adults and children to discuss together. Some critics have found the amount of text and the great variety of issues raised in the book overwhelming, and the verdict on the book's usefulness has been mixed.
In God's Name , illustrated by Phoebe Stone, Jewish Lights Publishing (Woodstock, Vermont), 1994. In God's Name , Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso presents a story that explains why there are many different names for God by showing that each person finds in God a reflection of what he or she most values in the world. Hence, some call God "Healer," others "Giver of Light," and others "Protector." Although the people in Sasso's story are first puzzled and then angry when they learn of others' names for their God, they eventually come to understand that each name points to a different aspect of the same God.
But God Remembered: Stories of Women from Creation to the Promised Land , Jewish Lights Publishing (Woodstock, Vermont), 1995. This book comprises a collection of four midrashim—stories built on the few remaining Old Testament references in existence—that refer to certain characters: Lilith, the first woman in the Garden of Eden; Serach, a singer of psalms; Bityah, who scooped the infant Moses from the Nile; and the five strong-willed daughters of Zelophe-had who take their property claims argument directly to God.
A Prayer for the Earth: The Story of Naamah, Noah's Wife, illustrated by Bethanne Andersen, Jewish Lights Publishing (Woodstock, Vermont), 1996. With this book, Rabbi Eisenberg Sasso attempts "to reclaim the names and stories of women, to help children and adults hear another voice".
God in Between, illustrated by Sally Sweetland, Jewish Lights Publishing (Woodstock, Vermont), 1998. God in Between, takes place in a town where each household is isolated within its own windowless house, with yards and public spaces desolate and unused because of a lack of roadways on which to travel. Finally, the residents of this strange town, isolated from one another, decide to send emissaries out to seek God, who is said to solve all problems. The searchers return, having realized that God is between all people, and accept His presence will allow them to in-habit the spaces outside their own homes.
For Heaven's Sake, illustrated by Kathryn Kunz Finney, Jewish Lights Publishing (Woodstock, Vermont), 1999.
God's Paintbrush Celebration Kit, Jewish Lights Publishing (Woodstock, Vermont), 1999.
What Is God's Name?, Jewish Lights Publishing (Woodstock, Vermont), 1999. This book presents a story that explains why there are many different names for God by showing that each person finds in God a reflection of what he or she most values in the world. Hence, some call God "Healer," others "Giver of Light," and others "Protector."
God Said Amen , Jewish Lights Publishing (Woodstock, Vermont), 2000. The pictures of this book is set amid a pair of imaginary kingdoms, their residents both full of pride and certain of their own importance. The Kingdom of Midnight and the Kingdom of the Desert are both in need of resources: the Kingdom of Midnight has plenty of water, but no oil for lamps, where in the Kingdom of the Desert, oil is plentiful but water is scarce. It seems trade between the prince and princess of the kingdoms could solve all the people's problems, but each is too stubborn to ask the other for help. Two children convince the royalty to meet, but in their stubbornness, each waits for the other to speak first, and they wait so long they are turned to stone, leaving the children to wisely sort out the issues.
Cain and Abel: Finding the Fruits of Peace , illustrated by Joani Keller Rothenberg, Jewish Lights Publishing (Woodstock, Vermont), 2001. While telling the traditional story of the competition between Cain and Abel to see whom God loves more, which ends in Abel's murder, Rabbi Eisenberg Sasso also introduces the idea that an entirely different world, a world without violence, could exist if people would reach out to each other as friends.
Noah's Wife: The Story of Naamah , illustrated by Bethanne Andersen, Jewish Lights Publishing (Woodstock, Vermont), 2002.
Adam and Eve's First Sunset: God's New Day, illustrated by Joani Keller Rothenberg, Jewish Lights Publishing (Woodstock, Vermont), 2003. Sasso again turns to the Midrash for Adam and Eve's First Sunset: God's New Day .In Eisenberg Sasso's story, Adam and Eve face the first night they experience with dread, certain that the sun will never return, and that the world will end. They pray that God will bring the sun back, but ultimately give up, angry with one another.Hopeless and afraid, they are greeted in the morning by a glorious sunrise.
Abuelita's Secret Matzahs, Emmis Books (Cincinnati), 2005.
The Voices of Children, Co-editor with Siddur Kol HaNoar, Reconstructionist Press, 2005.
Butterflies under Our Hats , Paraclete Press (Orleans), 2006.
God's Echo – Exploring Scripture with Midrash, and speaks nationally on children and spirituality, Paraclete Press (Orleans) 2010.
הערות שוליים
עריכה- ^ Sandy Eisenberg Sasso's ordination came only 2 years after (June 3 1972 ) Sally Priesand the first american woman rabbi and was ordained in the Reform movement.
- ^ When Reconstructionism Rabinical School was founded by Mordecai Kaplan, in 1968, however, it was assumed that women would be welcome as students. Sandy Eisenberg Sasso was accepted without debate or subsequent controversy. In Jewish Women's Archives
- ^ Reconstructionist women rabbis have been instrumental in the creation of rituals, stories, music, and theologies that have begun to give women's experience a voice in Judaism.
- ^ see video Female Rabbi, author of Childrens'Books
- ^ see web site http://bez613.org/
External links
עריכה- Biography at Jrank.org
- Biography at Beliefnet
- Reconstructionist Rabbinical College
- Sandy Eisenberg Sasso at Congregation Beth-El Zedeck
- Children's Spirituality, an Interview,
- Explorefaith interview Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso,2007.
- First women rabbis in U.S. celebrate Hanukkah at historic event , December 7, 2010.
Awards
עריכה- 1986, Honorary Doctor of Humanities, DePauw University.
- 1992, Special Merit award, Vermont Book Publishers, for the book: God's Paintbrush.
- 1994, Children's Books of Distinction Award finalist, for the book In God's Name.
- 1995, best book of the year honor, Publishers Weekly, for the book But God Remembered.
- 1996, Sagamore of the Wabash award, Governor of the State of Indiana, for the book A Prayer for the Earth.
- 2004, Helen Keating Ott Award for Outstanding Contribution to Children's Literature .
Books
עריכה- Pamela S. Nadell, Women Who Would Be Rabbis: A History of Women's Ordination, 1889-1985, in Jewish Women's Life.
- Information on Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso’s books in Jewish Lights editor: http://www.jewishlights.com/page/category/sandy_sasso
Videos
עריכהcommunications on video realized by Sonia Sarah Lipsyc* director of Aleph CSUQ , and Abigail Hirsch a Film Producer with Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso at Dorshei Emet Synagogue, Montreal,Canada:
*Part one*