My Background

I grew up in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in what was essentially a shtetl. It was a small, tightly-knit Jewish community in which everybody knew each other (or at least the brother or uncle!). I attended the Talmud Torah of Saint Paul for 11 years. I became a Bat Mitzvah at 13 at the Temple of Aaron, attended Jewish day and overnight camps, spent a summer in Israel as part of the Bnai Brith's "Israel Summer Institute" and was very active in United Synagogue Youth, Bnai Brith Girls, and Hillel House in my youth. I was the first person in my city to earn the Menorah Award, representing a high level of integration between Judaism and Girl Scouts.

I am comfortable with all denominations of Judaism. My family was originally Orthodox but joined a Conservative synagogue when I was 10 so that I could have a full Jewish education. As an adult, I have attended services at Orthodox, Conservative, and Reconstructionist synagogues. I am a long-time member of a thriving Reform congregation and I was previously active in a Humanistic Jewish congregation, Beth Chai, at one point serving as its president and helping to structure and run its first religious school. I do not question or judge but am happy to meet you at the level of observance and belief where you are most at home - intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually.

I was ordained in June 2018 by the Jewish Spiritual Leaders Institute (jsli.net), which is an online program through which I studied Torah, Jewish law, holidays, life cycle events, and pragmatic details about serving as a rabbi from experienced rabbis and other practitioners. I was blessed by the company of classmates with diverse backgrounds and beliefs from whom I learned as much as I did from my instructors. I am grateful beyond words for this opportunity.