Leo Baeck College Ordains Two New Rabbis
Mazal tov to new Rabbis Andrea Steuer Zago Kulikovsky and Dr Hannah Marije Altorf who were ordained at the Finchley Reform Synagogue on Sunday 6th July 2025.
Rabbi Andrea Steuer Zago Kulikovsky was ordained by Rabbi Professor Deborah Kahn-Harris, Principal of Leo Baeck College.
Rabbi Dr Hannah Marije Altorf was ordained by Rabbi Miriam Berger.
The service was led by Cantor Zoë Jacobs from Finchley Reform Synagogue, Rabbi Aaron Goldstein from The Ark Synagogue and Rabbi Debbie Young-Somers from Edgware & Hendon Reform Synagogue.
50 years of women rabbis in the UK
As 2025 marks the 50th Anniversary of the ordination of the first woman rabbi in the UK, Rabbi Dr Jackie Tabick, it was a privilege that she could join us for this extraordinary milestone to deliver the Ordination address as we welcomed the 218th and 219th rabbis to be ordained by the Leo Baeck College.
During her address, Rabbi Dr Jackie Tabick recounted:
“Friends, 50 years. I can’t believe it. I must have been ordained when I was in the cradle.
All those years ago, that ordination, as you may imagine, created something of a stir. And I tried desperately to deflect the notoriety with a news report that I had heard. And please forgive me if the details are wrong because it is 50 years ago.
But basically, the item was that the announcer was interviewing the conductor of the Russian Philharmonic Orchestra, who proudly proclaimed: “I have six Jews in our orchestra. No anti-semitism in the Soviet Union.”
He turned to the conductor of one of the London orchestras. “And tell me, he said, how many Jews do you have at your orchestra?” And the conductor said, “I don’t know, we don’t count.”
“And how I wanted that to be true of rabbis, of women rabbis, not to be women rabbis, but acknowledged just as rabbis. And how delighted I am that that has now, more or less, come to pass thanks to my wonderful colleagues, male and female, and so many of our communities who fought for change.”
“This afternoon, we can celebrate the addition of two more amazing and wonderful people to our rabbinic ranks – Dea and Hannah, filled with potential to bring so much to the Jewish world.”
A truly special occasion...
