First black female rabbi in U.S. ordained

CINCINNATI (AP) _ Describing herself as the “new face of Judaism,'' Alysa Stanton became the first black female rabbi in the United States during an ordination in Cincinnati.

Stanton, of Blue Ash, was among 14 rabbis ordained Saturday at the Plum Street Temple. She will serve as rabbi of the predominantly white Congregation Bayt Shalom in Greenville, North Carolina, beginning this summer.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reported on its Web site that Stanton said her goals are to break down barriers, build bridges and provide hope.

A native of Cleveland, she studied at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, the oldest institution of higher Jewish education of Reform Judaism in the United States.

Pictured above is Rabbi Alysa Stanton.