[1][2] Priesand was ordained by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion on June 3, 1972, at the Plum Street Temple in Cincinnati.
[3] After her ordination she served first as assistant and then as associate rabbi at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in New York City, and later led Monmouth Reform Temple in Tinton Falls, New Jersey from 1981 until her retirement in 2006.
She is featured in numerous books including Rabbis: The Many Faces of Judaism and Fifty Jewish Women who Changed the World.
Her parents, Irving Theodore, an engineer,[5] and Rose Elizabeth (Welch) Priesand[6] were not religiously observant but they were active in Jewish organizations.
[7] Her family lit Shabbat candles, celebrated Chanukah and had a Passover Seder to which the children were encouraged to invite a non-Jewish friend to share in the festivities and learn about Judaism.
While still in high school, she requested admission information from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati (HUC-JIR).
In April 1971, she was the subject of an article in The New York Times, titled "Her Ambition Is to Become a Rabbi – And a Housewife", in which she stated: "I'm not an active supporter of women's lib.
[21] After her ordination, then member of Congress Bella Abzug arranged for her to deliver the opening prayer at the House of Representatives, making her the first Jewish woman to do so.
[24] Also during her rabbinate, Monmouth Reform Temple created a Social Action Committee which launched a nationally recognized gun safety campaign (Please ASK, which was given an award in 2003 by the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism),[14] was a leader in the fight against drunk driving, created a permanent Fund for the Homeless to support the work of Interfaith Neighbors, sponsored an annual food drive for The Center in Asbury Park, continued to host an annual Monmouth County arts festival, and instituted an annual "Mitzvah Day" of charitable volunteerism.
She also chairs the Clergy Advisory Committee of Planned Parenthood of Central New Jersey and serves on the board of the Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights Education Center at Brookdale Community College, and the Jewish Heritage Museum of Monmouth County.
In March 2012, the Annual Convention of the Central Conference of American Rabbis celebrated the 40th anniversary of women's ordination by calling Priesand to the Torah at the Monday morning prayer service;[31] through May 2012, the Union for Reform Judaism was running a blog to celebrate "Forty Years of Women" in honor of the anniversary;[32] and Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion honored her as special guest at the June 2, 2012 ordination ceremony at Plum Street Temple, during which 13 candidates were ordained – eight of them women.
[33] On the day of the anniversary on June 3, 2012, Priesand, Eisenberg Sasso, Eilberg, and Hurwitz met for a "Four First Women Rabbis" discussion at Monmouth Reform Temple for a celebration honoring the four first women rabbis ordained in North America in their respective denominations, and the 40th anniversary of Priesand's ordination.
[36][37] There is a short documentary about the trip on which this plaque was unveiled, titled In the Footsteps of Regina Jonas, which includes Priesand.
[49] In 1997, Priesand received an honorary doctor of divinity degree from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR).
[14] In the same year, the Rabbi Sally J. Priesand Visiting Professorship in Jewish Women's Studies was established in her honor at HUC-JIR.
[4] In 2006, upon her retirement, Monmouth Reform Temple dedicated its sanctuary doors in her honor; they are inscribed with the following words, "פִּתְחוּ לִי שַׁעֲרֵי צֶדֶק אָבֹא בָם אוֹדֶה יָהּ Open the gates of righteousness for me that I may enter and praise God.
[14] On April 23, 2009, she received the prestigious Elizabeth Blackwell Award given by Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York to women whose lives exemplify outstanding service to humanity.
The award is given out once every year to a graduating Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Cincinnati campus woman, chosen because she "exemplif[ies] the mission and values of WRJ and embod[ies] the qualities that Rabbi Priesand has exhibited throughout her career, including her clarity of vision, her commitment to excellence, her professionalism, her dedication to the continuity of Reform Judaism, her passion, and her perseverance.
[54] The poem “Let my people go that we may serve You”, by Merle Feld, was commissioned by the Women's Rabbinic Network in honor of Priesand.