Onramp

ONCE UPON A TIME, I thought I’d never say this: After a quarter-century in unofficial service to the Sonoma Valley Jewish community as a Torah teacher and worship leader, I now hope to make it official.

In other words, I am finally, formally, and joyfully studying to become a rabbi. (And a bit nervously as well.)

Although I have often considered going up that road, this was not an easy decision. (A few years ago, I even blogged about how I’d never decide otherwise.) However, I recently happened on a fully online rabbinical school, and something long-dormant stirred in me. The year-long coursework was comprehensive and appealing, but also prohibitively priced. Nevertheless, I discussed the idea with my own rabbi, and after exploring and rejecting various scenarios, he quietly told me that with his assistance, and that of other consenting rabbis, I too could become ordained.

Obviously, there is more to rabbi-hood than teaching Torah and leading services. My prospective ordination will take at least a year of committed study. I am largely self-taught (save for a ten-day Pararabbinic Fellows training in the summer of 2000), and there is much to learn: better fluency in Hebrew, liturgy, and the Bible and Talmud; and interpersonal skills such as conflict resolution, pastoral care, improved extempore speaking, and projective self-confidence. (I couldn’t, and wouldn’t, let anyone call me a rabbi otherwise.) I have no plans to practice any of these new proficiencies elsewhere — our local community is both my spiritual home and a place where I feel deeply useful and purposeful, and I want to keep contributing to its continued health and growth.

When Frodo Baggins set out for Mount Doom, he said, “I will take the Ring, though I do not know the way.” These are uncertain times. They will challenge us in ways we cannot now imagine. Nevertheless, like Frodo, I will take this road – though I do not yet know the way. Let the quest begin.