As a fourth-year rabbinical and education student at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, Ohio, Caitlin Brazner arrives for her student rabbi assignment at UHC with a strong resume.
Caitlin officiated her first virtual Shabbat service as UHC student rabbi on Nov. 6, following previous posts at Temple B’nai Israel in Kokomo, Indiana; Temple Israel in Paducah, Ky.; and Temple B’nai Israel in Parkersburg, W. Va.
We’ve been through an election and the holidays are approaching but with COVID still around, I’m sure everybody understands that our lives have changed and things won’t be getting back to normal just quite yet.
Thanksgiving dinner may experience some adjustments as we alter routines to protect our families. Hanukkah is coming in December and it, too, won’t be the same. Sisterhood will not operate its traditional Hanukkah gift shop this year.
Religious school remains involved in the community and has taken on the Vigo County School Corporation Backpack Program as its latest project.
The Hebrew calendar advises us that here in the northern hemisphere, the Ten Days of Awe, when we practice Teshuvah, occur during the fall (or in some years, late summer).
Sukkot also occurs in the fall. And on the secular calendar, students go back to school as fall begins.
This year, many of the seasonal celebrations have occurred virtually and parents, students and teachers are coping with online education.
Nevertheless, fall remains a time of new beginnings, even in a virtual environment.
A few weeks ago, I sat on a Zoom call with our rabbi and four other rabbinical and cantorial students from my childhood synagogue to talk about teshuvah.
You might ask, “what is teshuvah and how do we do it?”
Teshuvah, which literally means “repentance” and comes from the word “turning”, is the process that we are called to undertake during the High Holidays, especially Yom Kippur.