Rabbi Professor Deborah Kahn-Harris shares her story to celebrate 50 years of women rabbis in the UK

This year, as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Jackie Tabick’s ordination and 50 years of women in the UK rabbinate, Rabbi Professor Deborah Kahn-Harris shares her experience as a woman rabbi. 

For the past five decades, Leo Baeck College has been at the forefront of progress, ordaining over 70 women rabbis and shaping the landscape of Progressive Judaism. To mark this milestone, we have curated an archive of inspiring stories that highlight their remarkable journeys. In this blog post, LBC Principal, Rabbi Professor Deborah Kahn-Harris, reflects on the evolving role of women in the Progressive Jewish world since her own ordination at Leo Baeck College in 1996.

I came to the UK from the USA in 1989 to study for a at the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, with the intention of applying for rabbinical school back in the States. But Oxford, and by extension the UK more generally, began quickly to feel like home and so I looked for somewhere to train for the rabbinate here. That’s when I came upon Leo Baeck College.

I have fond memories, and less fond memories, of my time training. The fond memories invariably revolve around my cohort of students – we were a large class – and some of the exceptional teachers I was fortunate to study with. Dr Joanna Weinberg and Rabbi Sheila Shulman made lasting impressions on me, both as an academic and rabbi, and were instrumental in shaping who I have become in my current role.

The less fond memories are of the many challenges that even in the early- to mid-1990s, women faced in our training. Some, particularly older and male, faculty were not so much prejudiced as they were what we might term today ‘tone deaf’. A particularly challenging Talmud class on the subject of rape would, I know, be handled very differently today. In addition to the classroom challenges, women students faced real issues out in communities. We all knew which congregations would refuse to let us on the bimah, which would let us wear a tallit but not touch the Torah scroll, which objected to us wearing a tallit but not a kippah, etc. The whole area of what we could and could not do where without upsetting someone was a bit of a minefield. But these experiences were also instrumental in shaping who I have become today.

Indeed, my experiences at Leo Baeck College inspired me not only to work in student chaplaincy and later congregational work, but also to complete my PhD in Hebrew Bible, using both the deep rabbinic knowledge and the cutting-edge feminist studies I learned at the College. LBC made me more of a feminist, both from the positive and negative experiences I encountered. And ultimately, my time at LBC made me want to return, as Principal, to help shape the future of new generation of rabbinic colleagues and educators and, by extension, the future of Progressive Judaism in the UK, Europe, and beyond.

Supporting Leo Baeck College is supporting that future, not only for everyone who studies here but also for the communities that they go on to shape.

We can only build the future of Progressive Judaism with the generosity of our supporters

Celebrate this foundational milestone with us and support the next generation of inspirational Progressive Jewish leaders by helping us raise £50,000 for 50 years of women in the UK rabbinate.

This year, thanks to the generosity of an anonymous supporter, we’re pleased to announce donation top-ups, so for every £4 you donate, they’ll add an extra £1 to celebrate this momentous occasion – find out more on the donation page

We also invite you to join us online on 14th May 2025 as we celebrate this extraordinary event with Rabbi Dr Jackie Tabick in conversation with Rabbi Professor Deborah Kahn-Harris.