Rabbi Daniela Touati shares her story to celebrate 50 years of women rabbis in the UK

My path to the rabbinate began relatively late and after a long period of reflection and quite a few family compromises. Coming from France, I was able, for the first time at the College, to benefit from a course that was partly distance learning and partly on-site in London.

I was particularly inspired by Rabbi Pauline Bebe (LBC 1990), the first woman rabbi in France, who also ordained me in 2019. During my studies, I was inspired by many male and female rabbis, such as Deborah Kahn Harris, Charles Middleburgh, Richard and Harry Jacobi. I mention only some of them here.

The five years at Leo Baeck College were particularly intense; I have never worked so hard in my life to absorb the workload, especially since it was in English. I’ve loved every minute of it, it’s been so stimulating, full of challenges that sometimes I didn’t expect, like overcoming a certain anxiety about singing in front of an audience. I’ve had to question a lot of certainties and beliefs about myself and judaism.

When I arrived in my community in Lyon, I had to face other challenges to be accepted as a rabbi after having been the lay leader of the community for many years. And of course to create relationships with the other Orthodox rabbis, which to date has not been possible, since they do not recognise me as a rabbi. Fortunately, the lay leaders in my town are more welcoming and accepting.

The quality of the course, the variety of teachers from all denominations and the diversity of the communities where one can do practical training makes the training towards a true liberal rabbinate at Leo Baeck College in London irreplaceable.