Breaking the Silence

Photo: Reb Mimi and the Zieglerites

After not writing for so long, beginning again seems a bit overwhelming. But I will do my best to share stories and feelings of the recent past...

I have been accepted as a member of a pluralistic dialogue group for rabbinical students called Rav Siach. So far so good. I think the facilitators are knowledgeable and competent and particularly good. We have had only two sessions so far and it seems the group from HUC is half the group. So far, they have not managed to attract an Orthodox student, and until they do, the group will be lacking. Still, I have enjoyed the processing we have been doing.

Last week, the topic was “Aseh l’cha rav” which comes from a Mishnah that says that one should make a rav (rabbi, teacher) for themselves, acquire a friend and deal justly with others. I found the topic and the text interesting since for the first time I realized that the text is not really saying that making for yourself a rav necessarily equals finding yourself a friend; they are separate ideas. I think of a rav as a mentor and spiritual advisor. This is something that I haven’t found in one person but a variety of people. I plan to be more assertive about finding a real rav for myself when I return. But the meat of the program was about defining what you believe to be an ideal rabbi and then interviewing another participant based on these values. It was cool interviewing and being interviewed. It is hard to know what is in the interviewers head when responding.

The most memorable part of the evening was the ride home. This week, we had a new addition to the group, a student from Aleph, the Jewish Renewal Rabbinical School. When she introduced herself, she requested that the group be respectful and reserve judgment about one another’s spiritual path; she has encountered closed-mindedness because people dismiss her studies as fluff. Point well taken! But she drove us home that night and at a red light she announced: “Hey, guys. Guess what I found out?” She then proceeded to sing the Craig Taubman (I believe) campy melody of Elohai Neshama (prayer in the morning about how God gave us pure souls). Oh man, was that funny! I guess I would say that I reserved judgment for about two solid hours!

But on the topic of rav, Reb Mimi returned and we had a great dinner with her at Cafe Atarah (see picture). She told us about her new role at Ziegler, as spiritual guide. It is essentially what she has been doing thus far but more official and structured. She leads Rosh Chodesh tishes which you can hear on her podcast: http://web.mac.com/afstein/iWeb/Adam%20Stein/Reb%20Mimi%20Podcast/Reb%20Mimi%20Podcast.html

Anyway, it has been so great to see her and be reminded about the gifts that she readily offers us. She’s making herself more available to students who have been too shy to seek her out. I realized that I missed her being around. Last year, I felt as though I didn’t need her as much as I did my first year, but having her come here reminded me of what I was missing….