RABBI ANN FOLB was inducted as spiritual leader of Bet Menorah in Pretoria, South Africa, on April 6, making her the congregation's first full-time spiritual leader since 2002.

The widow of American rabbi Howard Folb, she was a longtime social worker before entering the rabbinate and was ordained at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati last year. This past fall, the World Union helped connect her with Bet Menorah to lead the congregation on a full-time basis.

Folb originally began her rabbinic studies in the late 1960s, before the first woman was ordained, but withdrew after meeting and marrying her husband, a fellow student. In her induction speech, she said that becoming a rabbi was "the culmination of a long held dream - and it is not often that dreams come true. I feel very fortunate that mine has. I thank you for the privilege of becoming your rabbi and look forward to a wonderful future of mutual enrichment for Bet Menorah and for myself."

Brian Cohen, president of Bet Menorah, said: "The last induction here was in September 2002. We haven't had a rabbi here for the past five years except for short visitations on High Holy Days. We've had our name down with the World Union placement committee for a number of years.

"In April 2007, we received communication from Rabbi Joel Oseran, vice-president, international development, of the World Union, mentioning that a student in the ordination class at Hebrew University College in Cincinnati was interested in Bet Menorah.

"After much communication via email, telephone and a two-week visit to South Africa, we were delighted that Rabbi Ann Folb, who had since been ordained at the college, agreed to serve our congregation and she arrived at the end of October."

Folb was inducted by Rabbi Hillel Avidan, outgoing chairman of the South African Association of Progressive Rabbis (SAAPR), who emphasized the importance of the pastoral aspects of a rabbi's responsibilities, and Folb's 30 years as a social worker.

"Bet Menorah is fortunate that its new spiritual leader has impressive experience in dealing with human problems in addition to her expertise in those areas of Jewish knowledge which a rabbi is traditionally expected to possess," Avidan said.

"She stands before us today as a qualified rabbi, a qualified social worker, an ex-rebbetzin, a parent and a woman who has shown the courage to leave her native land and her family and to come alone to a strange land, to a land which is, after all, a little dangerous in places, including parts of Pretoria. And we must commend her courage and we look to you, her congregation, to give her the utmost support because you're lucky to have her and I want her to feel that she's lucky to have you!"

"Folb is just one of three recent rabbinic appointments for congregations affiliated with the SAUPJ:

• Rabbi Robert Jacobs took up the pulpit of Congregation Bet David in Johannesburg last August, arriving from Temple Adas Shalom-Harford Jewish Centre in Havre de Grace, Maryland. His new congregants say he has brought "energy and enthusiasm" to the post. For his part, Jacobs says he "aims to work closely with the management team to strengthen Jewish communal life" at Bet David.
• Rabbi Robert Ash became spiritual leader of Temple Emanuel in Johannesburg towards the end of last year. He was ordained at London's Leo Baeck College in 2002 and comes to Temple Emanuel from Newcastle Reform Synagogue. Prior to becoming a rabbi, he worked for the U.K. Immigration Service, and in finance. He later earned a doctorate from Leicester University in the sociology of religion, which he calls "the beginning of my preparation for the rabbinate.

Rabbi Folb together with a distinguished guest, Archbishop George Daniel