-
I am born!!!!
This was a pretty huge day as it is today when it all began. I guess you could say that technically my Jewish growth started on June 2 when I had my bris. -
Period: to
Family Shabbat Dinner
Again, these dates are roughly the correct dates. Until I left California for my gap year in Israel my entire nuclear family would come together every Friday night to have Shabbat dinner together. This was my first exposure to Shabbat, and really to what it means to be a part of a Jewish community. -
Period: to
Pre-School at Valley Beth Shalom
I am not certain that these dates are exactly right, but it was 20 years ago, so I ask a little forgiveness. Ihave incredibly vivid memories of being in pre-school and of sitting in one of the shul's social halls, listening to one of the rabbis telling us stories about Sheldon the Shabbat Dog every Friday before school would let out for the weekend. -
Period: to
Heschel
(Again, not an exact start or end date, but the years are right. From now on, just assume this is true of any timespan.) From Kindergarten through the end of 6th grade I went to the Abraham Joshua Heschel Day School in Northridge, CA. This is when I first began my formal Jewish education. It was at Heschel that I first began to get a sense of what it means to live a "Jewish" life. -
Olivia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My little sister is born!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! -
Period: to
USY
This period of my life was, without question, one of the most influential of my entire existence. During this period, I found myself. As each year passed, I discovered more and more what I wanted in my life and further developed my personal beliefs both about community and Jewish life. -
My Bar Mitzvah
Today I became a Bar Mitzvah. I guess that means that now I am technically a man. But I do not feel any different. I feel like the same old David. What is the big deal? -
Period: to
Mr. Mastin
Mr. Mastin changes my outlook on teachers. -
I start keeping kosher out
At my shul's Purim carnival my freshman year of high school, I made the decision to start keeping kosher outside of my house. I grew up in a kosher home, but would not keep kosher out. I decided, on my own, to start keeping kosher out beginning on this day. -
Machon at Ramah California
For the first and only time I went to Camp Ramah as a camper. It was an utterly incredibly experience, I was, for the first time ever, really immersed in a fully Jewish environment. I was learning about my Judaism by experiencing it, not by sitting and being told about it. -
USY Pilgrimage
For the first time in my life, I travel to Israel. This experience would change my life torever. A love affair with the Land of Israel began that has never stop and has only deepened. I came back from this summer a new person, transformed. I knew that I would return to Israel, I knew that this journey was only beginning. -
Elected to Far West USY Regional Cabinet
Memorial Day weekend of 2006 I was elected as an officer for my region of USY. I served in this capacity until I graduated from high school the following year. As a part of my position, I took on certain practices. One of those practices was my becoming Shomer Shabbat. -
First summer on staff at Ramah CA
This was the first of five summers I spent on staff at Ramah CA (2006-2009 as a counselor and 2014 leading camping trips). This was the first time that I found myself in the capacity of a Jewish educator. It was during this time that I fell in love with sharing my Judaism and experiences with others, while helping them discover their own truths. -
Nativ
On this day I left CA for a year in Israel. This year changed my life. I fell deeper and deeper in love with Israel. I also fell further in love with my Judaism. I was, for the first time ever, being exposed to a multitude of Jewish practices, in particular Orthodoxy. I began to live a slightly more Orthodox lifestyle. -
Period: to
University of Southern California
After my year in Israel, I returned to CA to finish my BA at USC. While at USC I was incredibly involved in Jewish life on campus. During my first year I continued to keep Shabbat , living the life I had begun to my senior year and continued during my year in Israel. Hoewver, during my second and third years at USC I made the decision to continue to keep kosher out, but to stop keeing Shabbat. -
Began working at TBALA
I spent my last two years of university working as a youth advisor for the USY chapter at Temple Beth Am in Los Angeles. This time, in many ways, solidified that I want to spend my life educating youngsters and helping them find their own paths in life. -
Made Aliyah
My journey and love affair with the Land of Israel only continued and grew. I made a very concious decision to join a Garin that was moving to a very (very) secular kibbutz. I had decided that I wanted to live a certain lifestyle, but because I wanted to, not because it is what was surrounding me. I kept Shabbat and kashrut on a kibbutz, where the members would ask me why I was wearing a "little hat" on my head. Living this kind of lifestyle here only solidified the life I want to live. -
I enlist in the IDF
Today I fulfilled another long held dream of mine. I joined the IDF. Wihle not always the most conducive of environments to lead a traditionally religious lifestyle, my beliefs were only strengthened. -
Staff Nativ
I spent the year after my release from the IDF staffing the same gap year program that I had gone on as a participant. -
PCJE
After much deliberation, I decide that I want to pursue a MA in Jewish education. For the first time ever, I am truly engaging with traditional Jewish texts in a deep and meaningful way. I absolutely fell in love with text study, and I have not been able to stop! I am hungry for more!