First black woman rabbi ordained in the U.S.

An Ohioan on Saturday became the first African-American woman rabbi ordained in the United States.

Alysa Stanton, of Blue Ash, Ohio, was among 14 rabbis ordained at a ceremony at the Plum Street Temple in Cincinnati. She will serve as rabbi of the predominantly white Congregation Bayt Shalom in Greenville, N.C., beginning this summer.

"I am honored to be a visual presence of the 'new face' of Judaism," the Cleveland native told the Cincinnati Enquirer newspaper. "My goals as a rabbi are to break down barriers, build bridges and provide hope."

Stanton, 45, grew up in a Pentocostal Christian home and converted to Judaism more than 20 years ago while attending Colorado State University, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

She later studied at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, the oldest institution of higher Jewish education of Reform Judaism in the United States.