One of the United Synagogue's smallest communities has made history by becoming the first US congregation to elect a woman chair.
At St Albans Synagogue’s AGM on Sunday, Karen Appleby was voted unanimously and unopposed into the top job. The groundbreaking move followed last December’s ruling by the chief rabbi and other US leaders permitting women for the first time to become synagogue chairmen.
“We are in uncharted waters,” Mrs Appleby said after her election, “but we will learn as we go along.”
A member of St Albans, with husband Keith, for the past 15 years, she has been vice-chair for the past three years, and was largely responsible for steering the 65-year-old 130-member community from its original affiliated status to full membership of the US in 2011.
