Happy Chanukah!

Wishing you all a Happy and Bright Chanukah!

To learn more about Chanukah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, you can visit Judaism 101 or Wikipedia.

Yay for Girl Power!

One of the benefits of feeling better is that I have much more energy to do the things I haven't been able to do over the past few years. One of these is to attend events of our "Rosh Hodesh" girls' group at the synagogue. We have many different youth groups at our synagogue, but one that really stands out is one that is set aside for Junior High School-aged girls. The program is based on one created by Moving Traditions. According to their website:

Rosh Hodesh: It’s a Girl Thing! is the first proactive, informal education program that uses Judaism to enrich the lives of girls. It draws on Jewish tradition to give girls a place to feel safe, articulate their questions and concerns, have fun, and be ‘real’ with their peers.

Small groups of girls meet monthly with a carefully trained adult leader who uses our step-by-step manual. Through discussion, arts & crafts, and drama, the girls integrate core Jewish values as they focus on the things they care about most, such as body image, friendship, relationships, competition, stress, and family.

We had a program today, held at "Make" - one of those pottery places that allows you to create your own ceramic items. We painted our very own menorahs for the upcoming holiday of Chanukah.

As a young, female rabbi, I really treasure the opportunity to spend time every month with pre-teen girls, and I show them that a woman can do whatever she wants when she grows up. I can chat with the dozen girls who are there, I can be accessible to them, and maybe, just maybe, one of them will want to be a rabbi when she grows up. That would truly be incredible. The feeling of sisterhood, and the sense that I am passing on the tradition, is so special.

A Good and Healthy New Year

As we approach the start of a new year on the Jewish calendar, I wanted to wish you all a good and sweet year.

May we all have a year filled with good health, joy, love, friendship, growth, and success.

May the shofar blast, the stirring sound of the ram's horn, awaken us from complancency, from stagnant routines, and from anxious paralysis. May it cause our eyes to open, our hearts to beat with hope and intention, and our lives to change for the better.

With the fresh start of the new year, may we be inspired to come closer to our true selves, closer to our souls' potential, closer to our beloved family and friends.

And may we feel prepared to engage in new acts of tikkun olam, acts that repair the brokenness in the world around us.

Happy 5768!

Studying Hebrew with Mom

I'm sitting on the phone with my mother right now, and she is proudly studying her Biblical Hebrew. I am so happy for her - she has worked so hard towards becoming a certified Cantor in the Reform Movement. She only has 7 more topics to pass before she completes this extensive and challenging program.

After working as a cantor in our home synagogue for over 20 years, she longs so desperately to have the TITLE to go along with the holy work she has done for so many years. She is such an inspiration to me - I really credit her with much of my decision to become a rabbi. Because of her, I grew up feeling like the synagogue was my second home, and my family was always there. There were so many times, while I was growing up, that I would be at the temple every single day of the week.

Which leads me to so many of the things that, together, culminated in my becoming a rabbi.

1) Celebrating Shabbat together as a family every Friday night.
2) Attending synagogue, as a family, frequently
3) Attending religious school from pre-school age until High School Graduation.
4) Participation in youth group, both TYG and CFTY
5) Summers at OSRUI
6) Lots of Jewish friends

And then there are all the interests that come together in my career -
1) Education
2) Psychology
3) Theatre
4) Music
5) Judaism (of course)

Guess I'm in the right place! Now we just have to get my mom to finish up her certification program and finally be able to call herself a CANTOR.

Let's wish her luck!