Stanton to become first black female rabbi

Stanton, a licensed psychotherapist, will be ordained June 6 at the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Ohio. "I represent the new face of Judaism, a new era of inclusiveness," she told a Jewish publication in an interview.

A native of Cleveland, Stanton has already been hired to work for a synagogue in Greenville, North Carolina.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that Stanton will be the first black female rabbi in the history of the entire world. "The 45-year-old single mother of an adopted teenage daughter recently completed rabbinical school and is about to become the first- ever black female rabbi," the newspaper reports.

"Scholars believe Stanton will be the first black clergywoman in the history of a religion that traces its roots back thousands of years to Old Testament patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob," according to the Plain Dealer