PANIM and my mom

So I realized I never wrote about PANIM! The conference was seriously magnificent. The social justice educational sessions were really good, and I learned a lot about community organizing, how to use rabbinic/Biblical text in a project, and more. But the most interesting part for me was the people.

It was interdenominational, meaning there were about 30 students there of all ages (oldest was 60something) from all the movements in Judaism: Yeshivat Chovevei Torah (Modern Orthodox seminary in New York), University of Judaism (Conservative in LA), Jewish Theological Seminary (Conservative in NY), HUC-NY, LA, and Cincinnati (all Reform), Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Pennsylvania, ALEPH (Renewal movement based in Massachusetts), Hebrew College (nondenominational in Boston), and the Academy of Jewish Religion (another nondenom in NY).

I've never been in an environment like that before, where everyone was so open and willing to talk about real issues. We did quite a bit of "relational learning," where we would be paired off with someone from another movement and ask each other all kinds of questions to get to know the other better. In one session, we asked each other about how we came to the rabbinate and what we saw in our future. Another was more general: "what keeps you up at night?" Yet another activity was an open session where we could stand up and announce a topic, and then form groups based on what topic we were interested in. Options that people suggested included: Social Justice and the Iraq War, "My Ideal Congregation Looks Like....," Being a Single Rabbinical Student, etc. I joined the "Family/Career Balance" group, and formed very deep connections with the people in it. By the end we were laughing and crying comparing stories.

I told someone at school about this and they said, "that was an expensive mixer!" but I really think it was more than that. If anything, it taught me much about myself that I think will make me a better person and better rabbi. Like, that I had previously conflated liberalism with open-mindedness, and how that is a complete fallacy. The people from the more conservative movements were so honest and willing to share, they really shattered my stereotypes. Also, I think I've always felt slightly embarrassed about my level of Jewish education - compared to an Orthodox yeshiva student, I don't know Talmud or liturgy or a host of things that I felt I "should" know. The weekend taught me that yeah, so I don't know those things, but I do know a host of other things that they DON'T learn. So I guess it all works out.

By the time I got home at 10pm Sunday night I was exhausted. Then of course school started with a vengeance. Today is the first official day of spring break, so I get the next week off. And Jan is here, hooray! We picked her up at the airport last night. The plan for today is to go food shopping for the upcoming seder, do laundry, and hang out.