Raw

There are moments in the lives of others that I get to witness solely by virtue of the office I hold. Moments so personal that I sometimes feel like a voyeur. As though I am witness to something so intimate…so private. And some of these moments are laden with emotion so powerful that it transports me to a place beyond description.

What is particularly strange about my work is that these glimpses of the Divine often occur within the context of an otherwise ordinary day. Meetings…phone calls…students… correspondence. With holiness wedged amidst the chaos of the everyday.

On the atara of my talit is the phrase, yorah yorah tadin tadin. Can she teach? Yes, she can teach. Can she judge? Yes, she can judge. These are the traditional words associated with ordination. My s’micha certifies that I can sit on a Rabbinical Court. And it is in this capacity that I found myself today. Joining two colleagues as we considered the testimony of a conversion candidate. A demonstration of faith and passion for the people Israel so potent that I thought my soul was bursting.

Yitchak Zechariah ben Avraham v’Sara.

Welcome to our people.
Welcome home.