Born: 3 August 1902, Germany
Died: 12 December 1944
Country most active: Germany
Also known as: Regine Jonas
The following bio was written by Emma Rosen, author of On This Day She Made History: 366 Days With Women Who Shaped the World and This Day In Human Ingenuity & Discovery: 366 Days of Scientific Milestones with Women in the Spotlight, and has been republished with permission.
In 1935, Regina Jonas was ordained rabbi as the first woman.
She was born on August 3, 1902, in Berlin, Germany, and was raised in a religious household. She faced challenges after her father’s death at a young age. Regina initially pursued teaching but later decided to study at the Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums (Higher Institute for Jewish Studies) in Berlin.
Jonas aimed to become a rabbi, and her thesis, “Can a Woman Be a Rabbi According to Halachic Sources?” argued for women’s ordination. While her thesis was accepted, her dream of official ordination was delayed due to her professor’s death, and she graduated with the title of “Academic Teacher of Religion.” Eventually, on this day in 1935, she received her semicha from Rabbi Max Dienemann, the head of the Liberal Rabbis’ Association, marking her as the first female rabbi.
Despite her ordination, Berlin’s Jewish community did not readily accept her as a rabbi, leading her to work as a chaplain with the Women’s International Zionist Organization. She considered emigrating to Palestine but stayed in Nazi Germany during the Shoah (Holocaust).
Regina Jonas continued her rabbinical work even in the Theresienstadt concentration camp, collaborating on a suicide prevention program and providing religious services. She was deported to Auschwitz in late 1944, where she was murdered at the age of 42.
Regina Jonas’s story remained relatively unknown until her rediscovery in the late 20th century. Her legacy continues to inspire women in religious leadership roles, and she is remembered as a trailblazer for women in the rabbinate.