In 2016, at the age of 62, I received Smicha (Rabbinic Ordination) from the Aleph Ordination Program of the Jewish Renewal Movement. This is my third career, having formerly worked as a Spanish teacher and for many years as a Clinical Social Worker and Marriage and Family Therapist, skills which stand me in good stead as a Rabbi.
As a Rabbi I work in many different areas, with many kinds of people. The abiding theme that threads through all the work I choose to do is that of service to others, deep ecumenism and tikkun olam, repairing the world.
While in Seminary, I started a small congregation, called Or HaLev (Light of the Heart) Jewish Renewal Community, which is located in Morris County, New Jersey. We are a wonderful close-knit community that has been together for eight years now.
However, my sole focus has never been just to serve my congregation. For many clergy professionals, serving that small community would have been enough (Dayenu!). But God has called me to serve the Jewish and multi-faith world in many different ways. And so, I have truly become a “rabbi on the road” serving many diverse communities in a variety of ways.
My different “jobs” form a rich tapestry of many colorful and varied strands. I am blessed to be able to serve the world in so many ways. And each place I serve is so important to me and helps define who I am.
One of these places is Chai Mitzvah, where I am blessed to be part of the team of Chai Mitzvah professionals. I work in the areas of outreach and education, facilitating Virtual Mussar classes in a Zoom room to members of the Chai Mitzvah community all over the country. Our network is growing and the learning experience is so rich! Together we study text and engage in meaningful dialogue about the values needed to live an ethical Jewish life and how to create a more balanced life for ourselves.
When I am not serving as Rabbi of Or HaLev or teaching for Chai Mitzvah, I teach Pastoral Counseling at my alma mater, the Aleph Ordination Program, a virtual and in-residence Seminary that trains future rabbis, cantors, spiritual directors and rabbinic pastors all around the world. It is an honor and a privilege to work with future clergy professionals at the institution where I received my professional education and was ordained.
Another very important part of my life is my interfaith work. Currently, I work with a significant number of churches, several mosques, a convent, and several large universities, educating their members about Judaism and engaging in meaningful interfaith dialogue with them.
For the past 6 years, I’ve been volunteering as co-chair, along with a Muslim colleague, of a chapter of the national organization called Sisterhood of Salaam-Shalom. The Sisterhood of Salaam-Shalom is a grassroots non-profit organization with over 8,000 Muslim and Jewish women in 170 chapters, as well as members at large, across North America. Our mission is to build relationships between Muslim and Jewish women and teenage girls so that when either of our groups is targeted, we have allies who are there by our sides to stand with us against hate.
The Jewish value of tikkun olam, repairing the world, is a value I live by, and fuels my service to the world. It is a value that other faiths embrace as well. My tikkun olam work which I initially started to do with my congregation and now has expanded to include working with other faiths, centers around feeding the homeless and those in need. For the past eight years, since I founded Or HaLev, we have fed the hungry every month. We have not missed a month in eight years! We gather at each other’s homes to prepare 200 meals each time which we deliver to a local homeless shelter. For the past 3 years our Muslim friends have come and joined us in the project. We have now expanded to include the “Thousand Meal Project” in which we bag specific nutritious grains and seasonings to distribute to food banks, social service agencies, and universities for distribution to those who are food insecure. When the bags’ contents are combined with boiling water, each yields 10 individual servings.
Over the years, my tapestry has gown, covering more and more people. My goal is to continue adding more and more strands, more colors, to this beautiful tapestry that represents my rabbinate.
By seeking out a variety of venues in which I can use my personal gifts and resources to serve others, I can work constantly to build relationships between and among faith groups (the calling of my personal rabbinate) and thus help repair the world I love. This brings me spiritual and personal joy and fulfillment and brings meaning to my life, on a daily basis. For this, I am ever grateful to the Source of All Life.
Rabbi Debra Smith can be reached at rebdeb@chaimitzvah.org
The team at Chai Mitzvah is working hard to promote an upcoming talk with Scott Shay, titled, “If Beliefs Divide Us and Values Unite Us…Does God Matter?” The discussion is scheduled for Thursday, March 26, at 7:00 pm at the Hartford Seminary, 77 Sherman Street, Hartford, CT.
Scott Shay, Chai Mitzvah’s Board President, and recent author of In Good Faith: Questioning religion and Atheism, will be joined onstage by Tom Krattemnaker, columnist and author of Confessions of a Secular Jesus Follower.
Shay’s book, written in defense of monotheism, and intended for Christians, Jews, and Muslims, makes the argument that it is rational to believe in God. Krattenmakerr, a writer and columnist who specializes in religion in American life, explores the positive examples that secular non-believers can find and learn from the life and teachings of Jesus.
The evening’s discussion will be moderated by columnist and NPR radio personality Colin McEnroe. Along with Chai Mitzvah and the Hartford Seminary, cosponsors include the John P. Webster Library, First Church of West Hartford, and the Greater Hartford Rabbinical Association.
Seats are limited. Click here to reserve tickets online.
Chai Mitzvah is excited to announce a grant to provide free books and discussion guides to parties
interested in conducting In Good Faith conversations.
For more information, please contact Lev Nathaniel Kropsky at lev@chaimitzvah.org.
This month we welcome 5 new & returning groups to the Chai Mitzvah family!
If your new or returning group is not listed, please let us know!
Tony Pappas In Good Faith Discussion Group – Block Island, RI
Nina’s Chai @ home Group – Jersey City, NJ
Beth Israel Congregation – Florence, SC
Beth Israel Congregation – Ann Arbor, MI
Bialik High School – Cote Saint Luc, Quebec
To register a new group, click here.
The movie Arranged centers on the friendship between an Orthodox Jewish woman
and a Muslim woman who meet as first-year teachers at a public school in Brooklyn.
The seventh commandment is “Do Not Commit Adultery.” This is the February topic of Aseret: the Big Ten.
As we explore the importance our tradition places on the sanctity of marriage, we also see how this Diber guides us in all relationships. Interesting questions are raised, for example: What part does marriage play in a committed relationship? How has our understanding of this changed over time? What is the relationship between faith and faithfulness?
Some excellent supplemental materials are available to expand this discussion.
Arranged: This movie centers on the friendship between an Orthodox Jewish woman and a Muslim woman who meet as first-year teachers at a public school in Brooklyn. Over the course of the year they learn that they share much in common – not least of which is that they are both going through the process of arranged marriages.
Rachel, Leah, Jealousy and Marriage: An interesting midrash on the relationship between Rachel and Leah with regards to marriage.
93 Songs About Supporting Someone and Being There plus some interesting polls and good advice.
Click here for webinars on each topic of Aseret: The Big Ten.
Click here for samples of Aseret: The Big Ten materials (both adult and teen).
How do we develop the spiritual practice of silence in order to grow our souls? This was the topic of the first Chai Mitzvah Ambassadors learning session that was held on Thursday, January 9.
This special, one-time virtual Mussar class with Rabbi Debra Smith (Reb Deb) was held as a way to let new people know about Chai Mitzvah – how friendship grows around meaningful conversation, and the spiritual and personal growth we share.
Seasoned Chai Mitzvah participants each attended with a friend, and the discussion was quite enlightening as we explored the occasions when silence is beneficial and the times when it is important to speak out and speak up. We also discussed the idea of a spiritual practice of silence. Similar to meditation or yoga, silence as a spiritual practice is an option worth exploring.
The next Chai Mitzvah Ambassadors learning session will be held on Monday, February 24 at 7 pm. If you and a friend would like to be part of this one time special virtual session, please click here to register. All are welcome!
We are pleased to announce a new initiative for past participants to promote the Chai Mitzvah program and earn a thank you gift from us. All past participants are eligible to become a Chai Mitzvah Connector. Learn more here.
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