Alysa Stanton-Ogulnick, First Black Female Rabbi to take Pulpit of N.C. Congregation Bayt Shalom

Alysa Stanton-Ogulnick will become the first African-American female rabbi to ascend a new pulpit in North Carolina in August. She will be ordained June 6 at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati and has been hired as the spiritual leader of Congregation Bayt Shalom in Greenville. Bayt Shalom is a small Conservative congregation that two years ago also affiliated with the Reform movement.

Stanton, who recently got married, is a convert and mother to an adopted 14-year-old daughter. She is a trained psychotherapist who specializes in trauma and grief. According to the Institute for Jewish and Community Research, she will be the first African-American rabbi to lead a majority white congregation, despite the fact that about 20 percent of the American Jewish community is ethnically and racially diverse. Isn't it a little strange that this is the first time they have had a black female in such a position, considering that this is a racially diverse group? The church leaders should reflect the community they serve, not be one-sided.

I applaud Alysa Stanton-Ogulnick for being a trailblazer and I wish her all the best in her endeavors. More power to you!