Sara Hurwitz

Sara Hurwitz is a South African-American 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. She serves at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale as rabba, and she is 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, Hurwitz 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.

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.

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

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