Spreading Our Roots on Shavuot
I have been honored to serve as one of RRC's social justice interns for the 2012-13 academic year, working at the Jewish Farm School. I have drawn on my knowledge of, and passion for, Jewish texts and ecology to craft innovative educational resources about Judaism, environmental sustainability and food justice. The pairing of text study with hands-on agricultural skills training is a powerful method of educating and organizing, which I’m excited to bring to future social justice work in the Jewish community.
Continue ReadingOwning the Title “Social Justice Rabbi”
I’ve never been arrested. I stood on my first picket line only three years ago. But ever since I was in high school, social justice has played a significant role in my Jewish life.
Even though I championed Soviet Jewish refuseniks, accompanied abortion-clinic patients, and shepherded a 40-year-old Boston congregation into citywide justice organizing efforts, I still did not see myself as a “social justice rabbi” or “social justice leader.”
Year one: Starting to Walk in a Rabbi’s Shoes
As a 48-year–old, first-year student at RRC with many years of professional work behind me, I feel more at home as a rabbinical intern in the field than as a rabbinical student in the classroom. Why would that be? Prior to arriving here, I was a social worker at a hospice and a Jewish Family Service agency primarily serving elders, their families and caregivers. Now, every Wednesday and Friday, I take off my student kippah and put on my hospice chaplain kippah. The experience of walking into a hospice in-patient unit, hospital or nursing home to meet with patients and their loved ones fits like a comfortable old pair of shoes. Walking into the classroom, the shoes are still so new that they need breaking in.
Continue ReadingCampus Crisis Over Israel, an Opportunity for Growth
Joel had never been in the middle of a crisis like this and he had no clue what to do.
I was Joel’s fieldwork supervisor at RRC and he was a rabbinical student working as the Jewish advisor on a local college campus. A controversial speaker—well known and highly critical of Israel’s policies—was coming to campus and everyone, it seemed, was upset.
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