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Overview
Early
Influences
Establishing
a Reputation
"The
Maiden in the Temple"
Breaking
Down Barriers
Career
of a Lady Preacher
The
First Woman Rabbi?
Jewish
Women's Congress
Paradoxical
Positions
Marriage
and New Directions
Later
Years
Legacy
Timeline
Bibliography
Artifacts
Alphabetically
Artifacts
Sorted by Source
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Marriage and
New Directions
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By the late 1890s, after almost a decade of
almost constant lecturing, preaching, and writing,
Frank was tired. Wanting a break from her hectic
life, she left the United States in 1898 for an
extended stay in Europe.
One night at dinner at her hotel in Munich,
Frank and her traveling companion were discussing
the Dreyfus Affair then taking place in France. As
Frank wished aloud that she had more information
about the events, a young man seated at their table
volunteered that he had just arrived from Paris and
had the latest news. They began a long conversation
and quickly became friends.
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Born in Odessa, Simon Litman had come to Germany
to study economics. When he transferred to Zurich,
Frank, too, moved to Switzerland, enrolling in
classes at the Zurich Polytechnikum. Two years
later, on August 14, 1901, Ray and Simon were
married. After living briefly in Paris, where Simon
worked as a translator, the Litmans returned to
California in 1902, and Simon began teaching
marketing and merchandising at the University of
California at Berkeley.
Holding to her often-expressed belief that
married women should not work outside the home, Ray
did not return to her life as a preacher and
lecturer. She accepted a few speaking engagements,
but her career as "the Girl Rabbi of the Golden
West" was over. Even the articles she wrote for the
San Francisco Chronicle had become more
prosaic; instead of the spiritual, religious, and
artistic matters she had dealt with earlier, she
now wrote about "The Stock Exchanges" and "A
builder of houses in Berkeley." The Litmans
considered adopting a child, perhaps a Russian
orphan, but they never did. Ray occupied her time
keeping house and helping Simon in his work. Later,
Simon would pay his own tribute to Ray and her
career by writing a memoir about her. Published in
1957 as Ray Frank Litman: A Memoir, this
book is the source of much of the valuable
information about Frank available today.
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How to Cite This Page
For a bibliography:
Jewish Women's Archive. "JWA - Ray Frank - Marriage and New Directions." <http://jwa.org/exhibits/wov/frank/marriage.html>.
For a footnote:
Jewish Women's Archive, "JWA - Ray Frank - Marriage and New Directions," <http://jwa.org/exhibits/wov/frank/marriage.html>.
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