Monday, April 11, 2016

Discernment

Kaeley, Heidi and I after leading an interfaith chapel at Union.
         This semester, I am taking a class at Union called “Faith Journeys and The Religious Education of Adults.” We read a memoir a week, and use our class time to reflect and explore themes that each book brings up. As I sat down to begin reading the first assigned book back at the end of January, I felt like I needed a dictionary with me. What was “vocation”? What was “discernment”? These were not words that I had in my Jewish vocabulary. I asked my roommates Kaeley and Heidi to define “discernment” for me so I didn’t look like a fool in class the following week. Neither of them jumped up to give me an answer. From what I understand, everyone defines “discernment” in their own way.
    I will be graduating from JTS next month with a Master’s in Jewish Education. In June I am moving to Boston to begin Rabbinical School at Hebrew College. During my rabbinical school application process this past fall (which might have been considered a process in my discernment?), I had the opportunity to reflect on the path I had taken to get to the point where I felt ready to send in my application.
There were numerous highs and lows throughout this process. My biggest “low” was when I got rejected from the first rabbinical school I applied to. It made me question if this was the right path for me. Maybe I wasn’t meant to be a Rabbi? Lots of tears, second guessing myself and conversations with various mentors in my life helped me work through the awful feeling of being rejected, and helped me move to a place where I could focus on my next application. The obvious high I experienced was getting accepted into rabbinical school after having an interview that was so pleasant I almost didn’t want it to end. One of the most rewarding “highs” I experienced was the process of editing all of my admissions essays and preparing for my interviews. Heidi and Kaeley both spent time reading my essays, giving me thoughtful feedback and listening to me practice the sermon I was expected to give at the start of my interview. As Heidi, Kaeley and I have been going through the process of discernment together over the course of this academic year, I have been constantly inspired by their reflectiveness, commitment to their religion and their desire to make the world a better place.
I never expected to get involved in interfaith work. My first time coming to Union was the day I moved into McGiffert this past August. As I’ve become friends with Kaeley and Heidi, I see how much people of different faiths can teach me and add meaning to my life. I know that my rabbinate will include interfaith work, thanks to my year of living and learning with the Interfaith Women’s Residency program. The relationships I have begun to build this year will not only continue as friendships, but will be the foundation for interfaith bridges as we all eventually go out into the world and build our own faith communities.