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Jews Only Marry Jews?
Around this time I remember having a lesson in school about intermarriage- Jews marrying non-Jews. I thought we were talking about interracial marriage. I came home from school upset because it was not logical that race mattered in marriage. My father had to explain what the teacher meant. This was probably the first time that I realised that my parents (mostly my father) had expectations for me (based on being Jewish) that were non-negotiable. -
Public School Here I Come!
I left orthodox high school for public school. My experience at the orthodox high school was beyond terrible. Public school was a breath of fresh air- I was one of the only Jewish students and no one seemed to care how I defined myself. It allowed me to explore what being Jewish meant to me and it allowed me to change that definition as often as I wanted. -
Rosh Hashana
The terror attacks in 2001 had a profound impact on me and my life choices. My whole view on the world, religion, and what I wanted changed. I remember sitting in shul on the Rosh Hashana the week after the attacks, listening to the rabbi speak, and I knew everything was different. I felt different. It was probably the most meaningful Rosh Hashana for me and pushed me to think about my values and beliefs and who I wanted to be. -
First Shabbat in Israel
I decided to go on a Birthright trip (mostly to see my cousins who had just made aliyah). It was the first time in my life that I was interested in physically experiencing Israel. We spent our first shabbat of the trip in the north, and the beauty of the landscape was surprising and moving. -
Teaching Sunday School
I began teaching Sunday school- 3rd grade Israel Culture and 6th grade Hebrew. In my 3rd grade class, the Holocaust came up in a text and I was shocked that my students didn't know anything about it. It was a realisation to me that my Holocaust heavy upbringing was not the norm for future generations. It is something I still struggle with- how to approach the subject and how much weight/emphasis to place on the Holocaust and how much the Holocaust should shape Jewish identity. -
Grad School Begins
I moved to Ireland to study Irish History at University College Dublin. I wanted to use the Jewish community as a lens for Irish history. I became very involved in the Dublin Jewish community and for the first time in my life felt that being part of a Jewish community was not only important but it was vital to how I wanted to live my life. -
Teach at Stratford National School
When the Rabbi's wife went on maternity leave, I took over her class. It was an amazing experience to get to teach a wide variety of topics (Hebrew, parshat hashavuah, chagim) to a group of students who came from a wide range of observances. -
European Adventure
After finishing teaching, I spent the summer backpacking Europe. The trip was not designed with a particularly Jewish focus, but it ended up being that way. We had amazing shabbat experiences and wound up meeting Jews in the most random places. It was eye opening to see places that had such Jewish history and that communities were still there, even after the destruction and devastation of the Holocaust. -
Sukkah Party
For as long as I can remember, my father built a sukkah. Every year we invited my grandparents and great aunts and uncles and even neighbours. But this was the first year that we invited my generation- my cousins and their children. It was a realisation that not only was it important to get together as often as possible for happy occasions, but so important to share fun Jewish memories with my cousins and their children, just in case they were not having those experiences. -
Time to Pick a Career
I had been working in Human Resources for a Charter school in Washington, DC and came to the realisation that I wanted to be in the classroom. I applied to grad school in Scotland (a Children's Literature and Literacy program) and got in! So I quit my job and was ready to move....but then thought, for the first time in my life, that maybe I needed a Jewish community larger than a few thousand. So I worked on an alternative plan. -
I'm Moving to Israel?!?
I decided that in order to be an educator in a Jewish Day School, I needed to not only study Jewish texts and Education, but I also needed to be part of a larger Jewish community. I decided to come to Israel and try out Pardes. I guess it stuck.....
