ES
Creation of holy space has occupied me in diverse venues throughout my rabbinic career. I specialize in community-building, pastoral care, and education for all ages. My rich Jewish upbringing gave me a firm foundation with joy that I draw from to share with my congregants. As a young adult, I sought out communities with strong lay engagement and that easy flow of friends from Shabbat dinner to Tuesday study, to a house of mourning. As a rabbi and head of religious schools, I have nurtured and celebrated that warmth and closeness in Sunday school classes, at services, life cycle events, and through lifelong learning.
.וְעָשׂוּ לִי מִקְדָּשׁ וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹכָם
Let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them (Exodus 25:8).
I have been blessed to serve as Rabbi at Congregtion Ner Shalom in Cotati, Keddem Congregation in Palo Alto, and Gan HaLev, the Jewish Congregation of the San Geronimo Valley. With my great love for children, I was appointed as Rosh Beit Midrash (Director of Education) for Congregation Beth Chaim in Danville, and Bet Sefer Chadash, the joint religious school of Congregations Beth Israel Judea and B'nai Emunah in San Francisco. My love of teaching brought me to classrooms at Brandeis Hillel Day School, Contra Costa Jewish Day School, Yavneh Jewish Day School and at several synagogue religious schools. Trained as a biologist, my scientific and research background has also served as a basis for teaching and exploration with students of all ages.
I love sharing my expertise in administration and program management, from which sprang my love of event planning. This led to work at both the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco and the Oshman Family Jewish Community Center in Palo Alto. In this last role, I developed programming for seniors, including classes, concerts and a weekly lunch and learn where in addition to booking lectures and readings, I exercised my culinary passions to create healthy and tasty meals.
I have been honored to be part of the spiritual support team for Shalom Bayit, dedicated to supporting battered women within the Jewish community. A life-long advocate for interfaith understanding, I sit on the board of the Silicon Valley Interreligious Council. and participate in the Interfaith Council of Contra Costa County as well as the Marin Interfaith Council. In response to a need for local support when one of my congregants was grappling with terminal cancer, I founded the Chevre Kaddisha (burial society) of Sonoma County. I have an ongoing interest in community development and life-long learning.
Personal Life
A full-on lover of animals, I seek out sports that include the luminous interaction between woman and beast. A fourth level dressage rider until motherhood shifted my focus, horses remain an important source of spiritual enrichment. Fish have also played an important role in my world, not as dinner, but in microcosms of beauty and complexity: both salt and freshwater aquaria. I am currently working towards an American Kennel Club Companion Dog title (and beyond!) with the talented Kellnor's Lovelight (aka Lylah).
Dance has been a lifelong avocation, and in graduate school I led the Elm City Vintage Dancers, researching Victorian and Edwardian dance steps and social niceties for presentations. This led me to a study of 19th century clothing, and reproduction of period garments, which sometimes slides into preparations for Purim. My most recent passion is the Argentine tango.
No one leaves our table hungry! With my teenage daughter, Amalya, I dabble in gourmet and molecular cuisine while remaining firmly attached to the French classics. Freshness, flavor and variety all add to the pleasure of creating a meal for family and friends. We love serving seven course dinners using the themes of creation or the Torah portion for Shabbat meals.
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