A few summers back I spent two weeks shadowing my congregational Rabbi. Okay, that's kind of a lie. He's not my congregational Rabbi. He's the Rabbi of the synagogue that my old synagogue merged with. My family never rejoined a synagogue, so I don't really belong anywhere. When I'm home, I spend Shabbat at that synagogue.
Anyway, this internship was a real eye-opening experience on many levels. The Rabbi got permission to have me watch him conduct a counseling session. I also got to go on a hospital visit, help lead services, sit in on meetings, and more. While I definitely learned a lot by watching my Rabbi go about his daily tasks, what really stands out in my mind was lunch time. Every day we had lunch together. It was my chance to pick his brain and ask him anything I wanted. It was also his chance to ask me whatever he wanted to.
I remember complaining to him about Hillel. The summer of my internship was the summer after my first semester at Binghamton. I was annoyed with the Reform community situation on my campus. I was annoyed that I was expected to be a campus leader before I even had the chance to become acclimated to campus. I talked about my fear of hospitals, how I worried that HUC was going to be too academically challenging for me.
One of the most thought-provoking conversations we had during those two weeks was about community. He asked me what my ideal Jewish community would look like. What a question! Since that summer, my answer certainly has changed. I want to lead a community of learned Jews who value pluralism and embrace one anothers differences. I want to be challenged and challenge others. I want a community that cares deeply about each other, their relationships with each other and with God. I envision intergenerational learning that begins in the home and continues in the synagogue. I want to create prayer experiences that connect people to Judaism, and inspires them to go beyond the synagogue walls and change the world.
I just hope that regardless of what flavor of Judaism I choose, or where I end up working, I hope that I never lose sight of my dream Jewish community. For now, I think I'll just enjoy living in a Jewish plurastic community, and learning all that I can from our mistakes and successes...
kelly;
ReplyDeletei hope that you continue to struggle with these issues and work towards bridging the gap between the home and jewish tradition. though in the process, i hope you don't forget to take a step back and realize the strength of your efforts. even though you cannot single-handedly heighten a person's observance, the value of your example will be instrumental to the sense of connectedness these people feel to judaism in the sanctuary, the home or even the secular academe. you merely (though significantly) provide some of the building blocks that form a person's jewish consciousness. and the religious education that you endow is inevitably a part of a young person's development, which testifies to the shaping power of your pedagogy.
You're doing amazing work, and will wherever you go!
ReplyDeleteSomeday when you are in NY you should spend a day with me at AJR, the quintessential pluralistic community............
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