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Alysa Stanton

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Alysa Stanton (born c. 1964) is an African-American Jew. On June 6, 2009, she was ordained the first African-American [Image infos="Stanton.jpg|thumb|right|250px"]female rabbi. 

<h2 id="w_education">Education </h2>
Stanton was raised a Pentecostal Christian. She grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, and Denver, Colorado. 
In her first career, Stanton was a psychotherapist She specialized in grief counseling, and was asked to speak to people in Columbine after the 1999 high school massacre. 

<h2 id="w_conversion-to-judaism">Conversion to Judaism </h2>
Stanton says she was propelled early on by a search for spiritual nourishment. She was attracted initially to Eastern religions and Evangelicalism, until her family moved to a predominantly Jewish suburb of Cleveland. Curious about the mezuzahs in the doorways of neighboring homes — along with other unfamiliar Jewish customs — Stanton turned for guidance to a Catholic uncle who occasionally worshipped at a local temple.By her 20s, Stanton had found a permanent home in Judaism, and formally converted to the religion after a year of study with a rabbi in Denver. 
Before preparing for the rabbinate, she sought to become a cantor, but heard that Jewish leadership positions were not available to women. When she finally saw a female cantor, she decided to pursue the studies necessary to become a rabbi. 
Stanton completed seven years of rabbinical training at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati. 
When ordained, Stanton will become the rabbi of Congregation Bayt Shalom, a small majority-white synagogue in Greenville, North Carolina. The congregation's president said that the fact that Stanton is African-American and a woman had nothing to do with the decision to hire her: "I'm very proud of my community. [Stanton's being a woman or being Black] never came up in conversation. Obviously, we all know that's unusual but when she got on the pulpit during her visit, it was totally comfortable." 

<h2 id="w_references">References </h2>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/07/united-states-black-female-rabbi" alt="The Guardian (2009), "Black female rabbi 'is new face of Judaism'"">The Guardian (2009), "Black female rabbi 'is new face of Judaism'"</a> 
</li><li><a href="http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1903245,00.html" alt="TIME (2009), "Introducing America's First Black, Female Rabbi"">TIME (2009), "Introducing America's First Black, Female Rabbi"</a> 
</li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alysa_Stanton" alt="Wikipedia, "Alysa Stanton"">Wikipedia, "Alysa Stanton"</a> 
</li></ul>

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