Jane Evans (1907–2004) was the executive director of the National Federation of Temple Sisterhoods (now the Women of Reform Judaism) from 1933 to 1976.[1][2][3] She was its first full-time Executive Director, as from 1913 until 1933 (its first twenty years) the National Federation of Temple Sisterhoods was led by volunteer presidents.[4][5] Evans also became president of the National Peace Conference in 1950.[5] On April 29, 1957, she spoke to 1,000 delegates at a biennial general assembly meeting of the Union for Reform Judaism (then called the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC)) in favor of ordaining women, a speech which The New York Times called a "strong plea," though the UAHC took no action.[5] While Evans was still executive director of the National Federation of Temple Sisterhoods in 1963, it approved a resolution at its biennial assembly calling on the UAHC, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, and the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion to move forward on the ordination of women.[5]
In 1958, Evans reported that she and several other women had informally filled the role of rabbis upon the request of their congregations.[6]
In 2003 Rabbi Adrienne Scott, who was then a rabbinic student at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, wrote her thesis on Jane Evans, titled An Analysis of Dr. Jane Evans' Professional Contributions to the National Federation of Temple Sisterhoods; it is the first and as of 2005 the only full-length study of Evans' life.[1]
The Jane Evans Papers are now held in the American Jewish Archives, where they were donated by the Union for Reform Judaism in June 2004.[7]
References edit
- ^ a b "10 Minutes of Torah - 350 Years of Jews in America". Tmt.urj.net. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
- ^ "Reform Judaism Magazine - Sisterhood Timeline". Reformjudaismmag.org. Archived from the original on 2013-10-05. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
- ^ "Evans". URJ. Archived from the original on 2013-10-04. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
- ^ Rabbi Jan Katzew (2013-03-12). "Jane Evans, of Blessed Memory – One of a Kind | Women of Reform Judaism". Blogs.rj.org. Archived from the original on 2013-05-13.
- ^ a b c d "This Week in History - Reform Judaism leader Jane Evans argues for ordination of women rabbis". Jewish Women's Archive. 1957-04-29. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
- ^ "Open Rabbis' Posts to Able Women Asks Temple Sisterhoods Director". The Courier Journal. 25 Nov 1958.
- ^ "Jane Evans Papers". Americanjewisharchives.org. Retrieved 2013-10-03.