Pauline Bebe is the rabbi of Communauté Juive Libérale, a Progressive Jewish congregation in Paris. She was the first female rabbi in France,^[1] and the first female rabbi to lead a synagogue there. As of 2018 France has only four women rabbis, Bebe, Célia Surget,^[2][3] Delphine Horvilleur^[4] and Floriane Chinsky.

Bebe was born in 1965 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. Her family lived through the German occupation and hid in the south of France throughout World War II.^[5] Her father was a pediatrician and her mother a lawyer. They were both Jews who, though nonpracticing, exposed their child to the lessons of the rue Copernic synagogue: "They gave me the education which they could not get because of the war".^[6] Her desire to become a rabbi dates to her adolescence:^[6] "I wanted to be a rabbi to accompany people for the important periods of their life. The liberal Jewish movement lauded the equality between the man and the woman. I saw no obstacle to my desire..."^[7]

She attended the lycée Lamartine high school in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, taking classical studies.^[7] After graduation, she attended Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales at Paris, where she learned English and Hebrew. She has a BA in English and American literature and civilization, and an MA and DEA in Hebrew literature. Her Master's thesis was titled L'attitude du judaïsme face au prosélytisme et à la conversion ("The attitude of Judaism in the face of proselytism and conversion").^[8]

In 1985, Bebe began her rabbinical studies in England with five years of studies at the Leo Baeck College. She stated "A liberal Rabbinical College in France does not exist, and I am attached to a Judaism based on the Enlightenment, to a religion which evolves according to periods and social circles."^[9]

She completed her Hebrew cursus in Jerusalem at the Hebrew Union College.^[10] She was ordained in 1990, one of about 30 women rabbis ordained by the Leo Baeck College between 1975 and 2006.^[11] Though less numerous than in the United States,^[12] female rabbis exist in Europe, mostly in England, Germany and Netherlands.^[13]

Bebe first rabbinic position was at Mouvement Juif Liberal de France in Paris between 1990 and 1995. She helped those with drug addiction, HIV-positive people and eccentrics who were rejected by the traditional religious institutions.^[7] Reactions to her as a female rabbi were mixed: "Some believers were very enthusiastic and trusted me, while others were violently opposed to the idea of having a woman rabbi."^[9]

In 1995 with Remy Schwartz, Bebe created her own congregation, Communaute Juive Liberale d'Île-de-France (CJL) in Paris.^[14] The congregation adopted the name MAAYAN (Hebrew for "wellspring"), and opened a new synagogue building in May 2006.^[15][16] By 2013, membership exceeded 400 households.^[17] The CJL is affiliated with the World Union for Progressive Judaism.

Bebe is married to Rabbi Tom Cohen,^[18] an American expatriate who leads Kehilat Gesher, the American Jewish Congregation in Paris. Bebe is also the mother of four children; she says, "It's not always easy to be everywhere at the same time, but for the moment at least, my children aren't complaining".^[9]

Bebe is the author of seven books and has written numerous articles:^[8]

• Le Judaïsme libéral, Éditions Grancher [fr], 1993, ISBN 2-7339-0416-7.
• ISHA, Dictionnaire des femmes et du judaïsme, Calmann-Lévy, 2001, ISBN 2-7021-3153-0
• Peut-on faire le bonheur de ses enfants ?, avec Caroline Eliacheff [fr] et Pierre Lassus, Éditions de l'Atelier, 2003, ISBN 2-7082-3696-2
• Qu'est-ce que le judaïsme libéral ?, Calmann-Lévy, 2006, ISBN 2-7021-3724-5
• A l'ombre du tamaris, Presses de la Renaissance [fr], 2010, ISBN 978-2-7509-0610-8
• L'autre, cet infini, avec Catherine Bensaid [fr], Éditions Robert Laffont, 2013, ISBN 978-2-221-10997-7

The 2022 art exhibit “Holy Sparks”, shown among other places at the Dr. Bernard Heller Museum, featured art about twenty-four female rabbis who were firsts in some way;^[19][20] Tamar Hirschl created the artwork about Bebe that was in that exhibit.^[21]

• Timeline of women rabbis

• Pauline Bebe, Jewish Virtual Library

• Bernard Edinger, Europe Report: Flourishing in France, Reform Judaism online, spring 2008
• Pauline Bebe, Reinterpreting the Mikveh. Making it relevant today in my Jewish learning, from The Torah: A Women’s Commentary, edited by Tamara Cohn Eskenazi and Andrea L. Weiss (New York: URJ Press and Women of Reform Judaism, 2008).
• (French) Pauline Bebe, ISHA. Dictionnaire des femmes et du judaïsme, article in Clio, numéro 16/2002, by Joëlle Allouche-Benayoun
• (French ) Sermons of rabbi Pauline Bebe
• (French) Video, Paracha Hashavoua 5770: Du déluge à la tour de Babel, Noa’h: une lecture éthique des grands récits de l'humanité October 2009
• (French) Interviews with Pauline Bebe