Note: This question and answer session came during the Rabbi's hiring process.
Leisurely family walks to shul on Shabbes, holiday feasts with the gantze mishpoche at my grandparents’ apartment in Boro Park Brooklyn, and two years living in Israel, all helped to firmly establish a Jewish foundation during my childhood. From these sprang my deep love of Jewish culture and tradition, my passion for Hebrew language and music, my sense of awe for God and the sacred, and my strong connection with the land of Israel.
Being Jewish brought me great joy, but a career in the rabbinate hadn't occurred to me. Unlike some Jewish girls of my generation, I did not become a bat mitzvah and it wasn't until my early twenties that I even met a woman rabbi or cantor. I enjoyed leading shira (Hebrew singing), tefilot (prayers), and rikkud (Israeli dance) in my Zionist youth group Young Judaea, but my desire to make aliyah meant choosing a profession that would be easily transferable to life in Israel. Ironically, hardly the rabbinate!
Still, as the Yiddish expression goes, "Mentchen tracht und Gott lacht, Human's plan and God laughs." While taking prerequisite courses at San Francisco State for a masters program in Physical Therapy, I was invited to co-found the Jewish women's a cappella ensemble, VOCOLOT. My liturgical skills led to a position serving as a cantorial soloist and educator at Kehilla Community Synagogue in Berkeley. It wasn't long before congregants and students began to share with me how inspired they were by my leadership. At the same time Kehilla’s rabbis were encouraging me to consider rabbinical school, and I soon realized that I indeed did want to become a rabbi.
A Vision for my Rabbinate
Too many Jews in the post-Holocaust generation inherited a deeply ingrained skepticism about God, actively distanced themselves from Judaism in order to escape anti-Semitism, or simply found it easier to assimilate. Others looked elsewhere to fulfill their spiritual and communal needs. My mission as a rabbi is to attract and to inspire estranged Jews and interested non-Jews to discover, to rekindle and to strengthen their relationship with God, with our beautiful Jewish heritage and with the Jewish community. I aspire to guide and to shape a congregation where individuals and families can experience the sacred in community—whether through prayer, Torah study, or through communal acts of Tikkun Olam.
In our career driven mobile society, the nuclear family has replaced the extended family and the pressures on families are enormous. I believe that intergenerational relationships are necessary for human fulfillment and that community helps to restore balance to society. A congregation is far greater than the sum of its members. Members are moved to share their talents and resources to build something in which they can take pride, ownership and satisfaction. As a rabbi it is my mission to guide my congregation toward this ideal vision of community.
Our heritage offers precious and timeless wisdom that can help us navigate the constantly shifting tides of social and technological change. Indeed, Judaism has survived precisely because of its ability to adapt and grow. As a rabbi, I am committed to shaping and sharing a Judaism that is vibrant, relevant and compelling.
Rather than serving primarily as purveyor or arbiter of halakha (Jewish Law), I see myself as a teacher, model, and counselor. I believe in opening the gates of Jewish community and learning to all those who seek a Jewish spiritual home regardless of age, race, gender, sexual preference, marital status or faith of origin. In particular, I am committed to helping Jewish youth to find meaning in their Jewish heritage and to develop an authentic Jewish voice for their own generation.
Finally, as a rabbi one of my roles is to serve as a representative of and spokesperson for the Jewish community and to work with leaders of other faith communities to build a more tolerant, diverse, just and ethical society
What do you know about Congregation Beth Israel Judea and what appealed to you about our profile that led you to submit your application?
Although I attended San Francisco State University and drove by Congregation Beth Israel Judea regularly for about four years, I never attended a service. Still, based on the congregational profile I have read, your synagogue's values strongly match those that I am seeking in a synagogue. You are a diverse, inclusive, welcoming, and egalitarian community. You are committed to offering a rich and well-rounded religious school curriculum. You believe in working for tikkun olam. You support and provide opportunities for Jewish learning at all levels and for members of all ages. Your community appreciates and celebrates a range of Jewish practices, from liberal to more traditional. You wish to continue being a haimish community, and are seeking a rabbi with the qualities that I embody—warmth, genuineness and presence.
How do you view your role as Rabbi to a blended Reform/Conservative congregation and what particular challenges do you foresee?
Having attended a Conservative shul as a young child, lived as a secular Jew in Israel during my elementary school years, attended Hebrew school at a Reform congregation in junior high school, grown up as a youth leader in a trans-denominational Zionist youth group, and studied at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, I have always experienced Jewish identity as something that is both fluid and dynamic. Professionally I have served as the spiritual leader of both Reform and Conservative congregations and as a cantorial soloist and educator at independent, Jewish Renewal, and Reconstructionist congregations. Professionally and personally I am comfortable with a range of liturgies, beliefs and practices.
Each denomination offers valuable approaches to Judaism and provides institutional structures to support Jewish congregational life. I have come to believe in klal Yisrael, the principle that holds that Jews are first and foremost a ‘community of Israel,’ and that our people's unity lies in our common history, culture and identity. Regardless of whether a congregation sits or stands for the shema, the amidah-tefillah or for kaddish, we are all Jews. Even congregations that are affiliated with one denomination have to contend with members' diverse theologies and practices. Members of a congregation who seek to embrace diversity must understand the need to provide for a range of beliefs and practices.
Ideally the shul can be a place for everyone, but not necessarily all at once. Community-wide services and events can unify the congregation while regularly scheduled specialized programs can meet the needs and desires of each of the various constituencies. Every area of community activity can become a radiant center of synagogue life. All combined these communities-within-the-community shape a home for every member of the congregation.
What additional experience or qualifications do you have that could assist you in leading BIJ's diverse congregation?
Over a period of about thirteen years I have served in various leadership roles at a variety of Jewish congregations. The majority of members at my present shul, Temple Beth Shalom, are over 65 years old. Here, I introduced adult education classes, weekly Torah study, and lively musical services, all of which have brought new life to the shul. As a teacher of Hebrew and Judaics I have taught seniors, adults, and children from kindergarten through bar and bat mitzvah age (as well as adult bar and bat mitzvah).
I have counseled and led individuals and families through the lifecycle—from birth, to adoption, to coming of age, to conversion, to counseling, to marriage and commitment ceremonies to illness and death. I have worked with interfaith families and individuals and engaged in alliance building with other clergy. I have served as an interfaith hospital chaplain in emergency and trauma, rehabilitation, oncology and women's health and have studied the psycho-spiritual dynamics of illness and its impact on individuals and families. I have worked as a holistic health practitioner and am a skilled spiritual counselor. I have studied the subjects of death and dying both within and beyond the Jewish community, personally and professionally.
In business, I have been a sole-proprietor and formed a successful group practice. I have worked with congregations of various sizes, constitutions and demographics. I helped to assist a newly forming 'start-up' congregation and guided it though its first year. The Reconstructionist Rabbinical College's training in congregational, group and organizational dynamics has provided me with invaluable insight into the cycles and dynamics of congregational life.
One of my greatest professional successes was in helping Kehilla Community Synagogue to become an award winning, model congregation. At Kehilla I contributed significantly to developing the shul's music program, from worship services to a sacred Hebrew chanting circle to creating a singing group. I helped Kehilla expand its experimental bar and bat mitzvah program by incorporating a component in experiential education and by developing family education and havurot.
Having lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for eleven years and Northern California for fifteen years, I am well networked in the Jewish community and beyond and I am familiar with some of the joys and challenges of Jewish life in the Bay Area.
Finally, as a member of VOCOLOT I recorded three albums that provide a soundscape of my musical skill and vision for Jewish life and spiritual community. I invite you to listen to these and I welcome the opportunity to learn more about the vision and mission of Congregation Beth Israel Judea.