Student Rabbi Rocki Schy will serve UHC Terre Haute during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 academic years.
Preparing for the secular New Year is wildly different than preparing for the Jewish New Year — even down to the time of year!
Rosh Hashanah occurs when the summer months wane and give way to the crispness of autumn. We find some relief from the heat, and head into the new season with our souls renewed.
Secular New Year, on the other hand, comes at the darkest point of the year. The days get shorter and the nights grow darker, and it seems the slog of winter will never end.
Our recently concluded Thanksgiving holiday gave me the opportunity to enjoy the company of my siblings, whom I don’t get to see that often. For me, the holiday means comfort and joy and, of course, gratitude.
Even if we’re yearning for faraway family or experiencing a general hassle at perpetually busy grocery stores, we can take the opportunity during this season to reflect. As Jews, we can look to our own traditions and texts to illuminate these themes of thanks-giving.
So much of our liturgy is based around gratitude, thanking G-d, the Divine Force, or the Universe for what we have.
My name is Rocki Schy, and I am thrilled to be your student rabbi for the coming year!
I had a varied Jewish upbringing. I attended a day school when I was young, and became B’nai Mitzvah in the Conservative movement. I spent some time in Modern Orthodox and Conservative synagogues as I was growing up. I was drawn to the vibrancy and progressiveness of the Reform movement as an adult.
I attended Temple University in Philadelphia, where I studied history and education. During that course of study, I taught students of many different ages.