I use all the components of my HUC-JIR education in my work. It is exciting to bring more congregations along the journey of innovation. For me, Judaism is about connecting with others in a community reaching very far back and very far into the future.

I feel I have the proper tools and experience to successfully teach and transform children’s lives through learning. HUC-JIR has become a second home to me, a place where I have learned, grown, and made relationships that will last a lifetime.

I care not only about the voice of our Movement but the voices of our students, and I want them to have the tools to face the challenges, harness the opportunities, and honor the history of Judaism. No institution does this as HUC-JIR does.

I wasn’t looking to be a pioneer, and I didn’t think of myself that way. I just wanted to be a rabbi – something I decided when I was 16. Fortunately for me, my parents gave me the courage to dare and to dream.

Besides the Jewish upbringing that my parents gave me, and the fact that I grew up in the Jewish community in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and in a vibrant liberal congregation, HUC-JIR strengthened my deep connection to the Jewish tradition and gave me the tools to translate that connection into the rabbi I am today.

As the only ordained Reform Deaf rabbi in the world, my role is quite unique. Everyone wants to be able to sit, talk, and connect with their rabbi and that is what I have done throughout the years for the Deaf Jewish Community.

I was appointed the first woman senior rabbi in Australia, which I hope not only paves the way for others, but also helps our youth of all genders take great pride in our movement and see their potential for Jewish expression as unbound.

In the last thirty years, I have tried to open the hearts and minds of millions of Israelis living less than an hour from our community to the story of Reform Judaism, to tell them Judaism can be fun, interesting, vibrant, and modern. I believe that our mission is not only to serve our congregants, rather the entire community around us. Most of our activities are geared toward the secular population of the Tel Aviv region. We are there for them when they celebrate the joy of Judaism through lifecycle events and we support them when they reach difficult moments in their lives.

Seminaries have the unique privilege of training our future leaders of all gender identities; they need to provide their community with the tools to support safety. Modeling best practices is vital to bring about change in the wider Jewish community.

My core belief as a Jewish educator is that Judaism offers guidance for how to live our lives. Jewish education is how we learn about what Judaism has to say; we can ask questions, debate, and hopefully find the guidance that we need.

I knew I wanted to make the study of Judaism into my life’s work. However, I wasn’t sure exactly what that meant. I went to HUC-JIR unsure of where I was ultimately headed, but I knew it was the right place for me to find out.

My role is to re-imagine Jewish life in North America and to educate and mobilize Reform Jews to leverage the power of our Movement to spread Reform Judaism in Israel, advocate for her security, and hold Israel accountable to our values.

We spent a week backpacking in the Grand Canyon talking about Judaism as I know it, which is a really interactive, environmentally sensitive religion. Afterwards we all changed our lives. I moved to Boulder and started the Adventure Rabbi program.

I see it as my duty to present the voice of progressive, liberal Israelis to Jews around the world. To be a legislator for the Jewish and democratic state is for me holy work, no less holy than being in the Beit Haknesset (synagogue).

Serving a community for many decades is a special blessing! My congregants and my work as an advocate and activist for the LGBTQ+ community have shaped me. My teachers, both rabbinical and lay leaders, have enriched my Jewish heart and soul.

I am a bit like a tour guide, guiding a group or individual through one of the seven wonders of the world. The wonder is right there in front of them, all around them, and my role is to help them see it, to explain it, and to give context so that it makes an indelible impression upon them.

I’ve been a rabbi for a long time, and I feel I am able to provide warmth and comfort to my congregants, but I joined the D.Min. program to become better grounded in skills that would help me talk through challenging topics such as mortality.

My job is the most pastoral work I’ve ever done. People disclose a lot to me about their wishes, hopes, fears, and more. They share a lot with me and it’s really personal and profound. I’m genuinely honored to be welcomed into those stories.

I learned from HUC-JIR to bring academic scholarship to the study of religious texts. These skills are crucial for exploring where things have been in the past and how to interpret religious texts ethically in the present and future.

I love Torah deeply, and I’m working to build a strong and beautiful Jewish future for everyone. I think Torah is at the center of that world, but we need new voices and ideas to share in that text to create a more vibrant Jewish world to come.

HUC-JIR provides a unique experience, not only with its rigorous academic environment, but also with its warm and welcoming interfaith community. I pray HUC-JIR continues to write its glorious history, and make this world a better place.

It was Judaism, in the form of studies, ritual, and tikkun olam that provided me with guidelines for how to raise a family, how to lead, and how to act in the world. Jewish traditions and teachings are central to how I want to live my life.

What’s most rewarding about my HUC-JIR program are the tools I take away from each class. I have seen exponential growth within myself, in my educational leadership practice, my Judaism, and myself. I have been changed for the better because of HUC-JIR.

Rikma deepened my understanding of Jerusalem, of the organizations and people working within Jewish pluralism, and of the potential for connection, coordination, and partnership between them.

In the Zelikow School I learned so many practical skills, including how to work with nonprofit boards, handle conflict in the workplace, and how to learn from failure. I have found that my classmates are incredibly helpful, and it has been such a joy learning together as a cohort.

When I finally discovered what it meant to be a cantor – to be a member of clergy, a spiritual leader, a teacher and interpreter of Jewish text through music – it truly felt like a calling.

The DFSSM is a living example of legacy and innovation; we study music of past generations together with contemporary musical expressions to enliven the liturgy and inspire communities to sing.

For twelve years I was the spiritual leader of this small, remote, fragmented community in Queensland, Australia. I helped ensure that my community remained connected to the mainstream of Jewish life in our region and the wider Jewish world.

HUC-JIR has helped me understand the different stages of Hebrew and Aramaic, the allegorical interpretation of Scripture by Philo of Alexandria, translating and interpreting a treatise, and more, to understand early rabbinic literature and liturgy.

Over six years have passed since we started in the Executive M.A. Program in Jewish Education Program, and [my cohort and I] continue to text, e-mail, and call each other for both personal and professional guidance. This gift of maintaining and building a relationship with educational professionals committed to my success in the program was invaluable.

Being Jewish means never being alone. We bring more light to the world when we do it together.

In a time when spiritual counseling is not a luxury but a necessity, the [Sugiyot Chaim] program gave me tools of mindfulness, bibliotherapy, and so much more. By the end of the year I felt ready to embark on a new learning journey, this time to become a rabbi.

I’m a religious person in that I have a connection with the divine, but I need this relationship to be practiced. I feel blessed every day that I decided to attend HUC-JIR, which became my spiritual home.

I’ve learned to trust my instincts and be comfortable in my own skin. I’ve learned that I’m successful being me, and I don’t have to be something I’m not. It models for the students that professionalism needs to come with a sense of authenticity.

Jews should always be bridge builders. We are about partnerships – not always with those with whom we agree, but also with those with whom we do not always agree. This can prove to be productive and in the best intrest of the Jewish community.

The Doctor of Ministry program was invaluable. First and foremost: the opportunity to return to the classroom, and engage on a regular basis with top-notch faculty and classmates was a gift. After 15 years in the active rabbinate, I was hungering for an intellectual experience that would inform the next phase of my professional life.

You cannot simply teach history and philosophy, you can shape your students’ formation; you can pray with them — they will become your congregation. That congregation will always be growing and changing as new students keep coming.

I am a third-generation HUC-JIR-ordained reform rabbi. I grew up embedded in the Reform Movement. My reform background exposed me to rabbis, cantors, educators, and teachers who walked the talk and taught me that the Reform Movement was about justice.

Becoming a rabbi is a very delicate, spiritual, and individual process. It takes a whole village to train someone towards ordination as a rabbi. I am privileged to witness this process and to lead it with my colleagues and students.

I am proud to accept this papal honor while remembering the many colleagues and friends who have been so important on my incredible interreligious journey.

I’m a spiritual counselor at Beit Teshuva, a residential addiction treatment center, congregation, and educational institute that helps individuals battling addiction. I use Jewish texts as a basis for spiritual conversations to help my clients.

It was a joy to build relationships and learn Torah with my classmates — an incredible cohort of thoughtful, compassionate individuals who will be my colleagues and friends for life. I feel honored to play a small part in their HUC-JIR experience, while strengthening my skills as a teacher and student of Torah.