Personal Statement

I am the descendent of rabbis. My parents met during the first week of their HUC Year in Israel. They created a household in which being Jewish was not an option but how to be Jewish was. It worked: My brother, sister, and I are all Jewish professionals. I found who I am through NFTY, summer camp, HaZamir: The International Jewish Teen Choir, internships at the Religious Action Center, and more. I spoke out proudly as one of few Jews in my high school. I decided to become a rabbi when I was fourteen.

I am the descendent of artists. My Papa was an avocational woodworker; he was best known for making mezzuzotwhich adorn doorways all over the world. My Grandma is a painter; she interprets the world with charcoal, pastel, and brush. I aspire to be like each of them and am inspired by their legacies.

I am the spiritual descendent of Bezalel, an amalgamation of rabbi and artist. In Exodus, G-d commanded the Israelites to build the Mishkan, their moving sanctuary. G-d set Bezalel as its chief artisan and imbued him with hochma, t’vunah, and da’at (wisdom, understanding, and knowledge). Out of fine linen and cedar wood, gemstones and silver, Bezalel made holiness. This is the task of the rabbi and the artist: Transform the mundane into the holy.

I use art to interpret Torah. As a summer rabbinic intern at Rockdale Temple in Cincinnati, I created an adult education curriculum using artistic representations of familiar biblical scenes. I continue to develop this curriculum; I brought images of the Binding of Isaac to Laramie, Wyoming for the High Holy Days and depictions of Jacob’s ladder to the Community Synagogue of Port Washington, New York for Torah study. I learn and observe new things in each of these sessions since each participant is an artist, able to discover great meaning in mere shape and color.

I use Torah to interpret art; my Jewish lens informs my every step, whether that leads me to a theater, a museum, or a novel. For me and so many others, art is a bridge into my Jewish experience. I became a member of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem within weeks of arriving at HUC. Throughout that year, I strove to visit one museum a week; after all, Israel has the highest concentration of museums per capita in the world. Judaism and art are overlapping parts of who I am. Both have helped me through life’s hardest moments, and I use them when I stand by others. When I served as a chaplain in West Chester, Ohio, I guided patients in prayers, verbal paintings of our conversations. We created sacred moments in the most sterile of environments. We prayed for healing, beauty, and love.

I strive to create holiness out of all the tools my ancestors gave me. Judaism is a tapestry which has been passed down to us from generation to generation. We are each, always, standing at Mount Sinai, receiving the Torah anew alongside all Jews across time, adding our own colors and textures. Each tapestry is unique, but the threads connect us all. As Rabbi Eugene Borowitz suggested, I believe each of us makes a personal covenant with G-d which is drafted from our shared tradition and personal autonomy. I am drawn to my unique obligations to Judaism and my sense of obedience to G-d and all that came before me in the great chain of tradition. As I stand at Mount Sinai, I embrace our 21st century world.

I have learned that to be Jewish is to love other Jews even when our interpretations of tradition contradict. My dedication to Reform Judaism stems from my experiences in multi-perspective spaces. In college, I worked as a CLIP (Collegiate Leadership Internship Program) intern, in which I solidified my commitment to modernity and curiosity through deep conversations with Orthodox Jewish peers. In the words of Rabbi Yoachim Prince, I believe that neighbor is not a geographic term but a moral concept. I feel a moral obligation to eretz, midinat, and am Yisrael – my Jewish neighbors in Israel and around the world. Simultaneously, I am a proud diaspora Jew who strives for a more perfect union alongside all of my American neighbors.

My desire for wide-ranging dialogue expanded during my time at HUC. I have loved being in class with Christian graduate students, Jewish Non-Profit Professionals, and cantorial students across HUC’s four campuses. These relationships, formed especially in hallways, common spaces, and carpools, broadened my understanding of the art of Jewish living. These relationships are where I find G-d. As a rabbi, I am deeply looking forward to walking through all of life’s cycles with my congregants, recognizing that G-d can be found in our lowest and highest moments.

As I begin my rabbinate, I know my congregants will immeasurably help me to grow into the rabbi I hope to be. A meditation in Gates of Prayer reads: “An artist in the course of painting will pause, lay aside the brush, step back from the canvas, and consider what needs to be done… As I hope to make my life a work of art, so may this [holy task] help me to turn back to the canvas of life to paint the portrait of my highest self.” I am the descendent of artists and rabbis. Art and Judaism are each a collaboration. I cannot wait to begin this project with you.