Mimi Feigelsohn

Mimi Feigelson is a controversial figure in Orthodox Judaism. Although born in America, she moved to Israel at age eight and began studying with Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach at age fifteen. She says that in 1994, he granted her Orthodox Jewish religious ordination (smicha), normally reserved for men. This was revealed in 2000 in an article by the New York Jewish Week. She is currently a lecturer in the rabbinic school at American Jewish University in Los Angeles, and the students’ mashpiah ruchanit, or spiritual guide. She goes by the title "Reb" rather than "Rabbi."