Sara Hurwitz

Sara Hurwitz is an Orthodox Jewish spiritual leader aligned with the "Open Orthodox" faction of Modern Orthodox Judaism in the United States. She is considered by some to be the first female Orthodox rabbi, and is one of the first female Orthodox rabbis to be appointed by a synagogue. She serves as Rabba at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, and the president and co-founder of Yeshivat Maharat, both in Riverdale, New York.

Early career
Hurwitz was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, on March 15, 1977, to relatively secular parents Melanie and Mervyn Hurwitz. Seeing the violence in apartheid South African and not wanting to raise a family there, the Hurwitz family moved to Boca Raton, Florida in 1989. Due to the lack of Jewish day schools in Boca Raton at the time, she chose to attend the local public school. Her Jewish education came from her synagogue life, youth groups, and her aunt, who introduced her to Orthodox Judaism. As a teenager, she was interested in teaching Torah and Jewish text to adults.

Hurwitz graduated from high school in 1994 and then studied for a year at Midreshet Lindenbaum. She then attended Barnard College, where she majored in psychology, graduating in 1999. While at Barnard, she joined a group of women who created Lights in Action, a student-run organization that connected Jewish students to Judaism by organizing conferences and producing teaching materials. Hurwitz continued as the director of Lights in Action after graduating, serving for a total of six years.

In 2000, Hurwitz entered the Drisha Institute for Women in the Drisha Scholars Circle Program. During her time at Drisha, Hurwitz began teaching and lecturing around the country with programs such as the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance, CLAL, and Jewish Community Centers. After graduating in 2003, she worked for JOFA's Gender and Orthodoxy project for three years and developed a gender-sensitive biblical curriculum for Orthodox day schools.

Ordination
In 2003, Hurwitz began working with Rabbi Avi Weiss of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale. She became the congregational intern for ten years. In this position, she taught, spoke from the pulpit, officiated at life-cycle events, helped lead the women's prayer group, answered halakhic (Jewish legal) questions, and provided counseling. However, although she conducted all of the rabbinical functions except for those in the minyan (as an Orthodox minyan requires ten men), she was not able to be included in the congregation's rabbinic staff due to her gender. While her male counterparts were assistant rabbi and moved onto their own pulpits, she was unable to advance in a similar way.

Hurwitz studied halakha under Weiss for eight years, culminating in her completing her oral and written exams in 2008. Weiss and two colleagues, including Daniel Sperber agreed to ordain her in the near future, and Weiss and Sperber publicly gave her the title Maharat in a public ceremony at HIR in March 2009 (the third colleague withdrew due to public criticism). Although groups hosted by Blu Greenberg had determined that she should take the title "rabbi" or "rabba," Weiss decided to use the title MaHaRaT, an acronym for Manhiga Hilchatit Ruchanit Toranit (מנהיגה הלכתית רוחנית תורנית), denoting a female "leader of Jewish law spirituality and Torah".

In February 2010, Weiss announced that he was changing the title to "Rabba", a move criticised by both Agudath Yisrael and the Rabbinical Council of America. While this change has remained controversial, other women have taken the title following Rabba Hurwitz.

Creating Maharat
In conversations with other women surrounding and at her ordination, Hurwitz and Weiss realized the need for an institution to support the Orthodox ordination of women. They announced the creation of such an institution, and in September 2009 opened Maharat. Within several years of Hurwitz's ordination, subsequent Orthodox women also received ordination as well as positions within Orthodox synagogues. This development indicated that Hurwitz was no longer an exception within Orthodox Judaism.

Connecting with other female rabbis
On Dec. 6th, 2010, at Conservative Temple Reyim in Newton, MA, Sara Hurwitz met with Amy Eilberg, the first Conservative rabbi, Sally Priesand, the first Reform female rabbi, and Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, the first Reconstructionist female rabbi. They and approximately 30 other women rabbis lit Chanukah candles and then spoke about their experiences in an open forum.

On June 3, 2012, Priesand, Sasso, Eilberg, and Hurwitz met again, this time at Monmouth Reform Temple at a celebration honoring the four first women rabbis to be ordained in their respective denominations, and the 40th anniversary of Priesand's ordination.

Personal life
In 2001, Hurwitz married lawyer Joshua Abraham, with whom she has four sons.

Recognition

 * 2010: Listed in Newsweek's 50 most influential rabbis
 * 2013: Bernice S. Tannenbaum prize, the Hadassah Foundation
 * 2014: Myrtle Wreath Award, the Southern New Jersey Region of Hadassah
 * 2016: Trailblazer Award, UJA Federation of New York
 * 2016: Jewish Week's 36 Under 36
 * 2016: Forward's 50 most influential Jewish leaders
 * 2016: Newsweek's 50 most influential rabbis
 * 2017: Wexner Foundation Field Fellows, inaugural class
 * 2020: Auburn Seminary Lives of Commitment honoree
 * 2023: Rabbi Israel & Libby Mowshowitz Award, New York Board of Rabbis

The 2022 art exhibit “Holy Sparks”, shown among other places at the Dr. Bernard Heller Museum, featured art about twenty-four female rabbis who were firsts in some way; Kathryn Jacobi created the artwork about Hurwitz that was in that exhibit.