Eight Weeks to Rabbi: Come Be Part of It

In high school, I was not voted “most likely to become clergy”—not that it was an option anyway. A friend of mine at the time thought it would be funny to petition for me to be voted “most clumsy.” (We’re not friends anymore.)

As I battled through my long run this week—twenty miles, the peak week of training—I felt absolutely horrible. Nothing worked. Even physically, I was suffering. If you know me well, you know that I don’t often suffer on runs. Even the most grueling, the most intense, or the most boring usually bring me some measure of joy. This one didn’t. I was suffering.

Somewhere in the discomfort, I started thinking about the road that led me from “most clumsy” to being just eight weeks shy of ordination as a Modern Orthodox rabbi. What that high school clumsiness masked—because she wasn’t entirely wrong—was a deep lack of presence and identity in my being. All four of my bodies—physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual—held deep fractures, places where my soul seemed to leak out.

I have spent decades learning how to repair those cracks. Some have healed into scars. Others are still tender. Over time, I’ve been blessed with opportunities to help others begin their own repair. My own pain, and the process of living inside it, growing from it, and ultimately learning to thrive through it, opened a new kind of seeing. That seeing has become part of how I serve. Part of how I teach. Part of how I walk with others.

I was invited—by sacred teachers and sacred experiences—to step into the light of healing and teaching. In their presence, I grew. I healed. I became present in myself. With that presence, I learned to be present for others.

Even while my physical body suffered on that run, my spiritual body stepped forward. It offered me presence. It offered healing.

This moment I’m approaching is not mine alone. I have the unique and humbling opportunity to celebrate alongside every community that has shaped me—those who walked beside me, believed in me, challenged me, and held me with care.

On June 16th, I will, God willing, step through the banner that marks my ordination as a rabbi.

What once felt distant now draws near.

Not a destination, but a beginning.

If you’ve been part of this path—through presence, prayer, friendship, or faith—come witness the unfolding.

RSVP here: https://shorturl.at/WtAUH