Rutland Jewish Center
  • Welcome to RJC
    • About >
      • Our Rabbi
      • History >
        • History to 1985
        • RJC Centennial
        • Rabba Kaya Stern-Kaufman
        • Rabbi Emeritus Doug Weber
      • Board + Committees
    • Application for Membership
    • Psalms For Peace and Healing
  • May 2025
  • Calendar/Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
    • Full Calendar
  • Zoom Links 2025
  • Donate
    • Cemetery Donations
    • General Donations
  • Lifecycle Events
    • Brit Milah / Baby Naming
    • Education >
      • Youth Education
      • Adult Education
      • Rabbi Shemtov Reflections
      • Rutland Raps
    • B'nai Mitzvah
    • Weddings
    • Our Cemetery >
      • Cemetery FAQ
  • Connect
    • Klezmer Band
    • Directions
    • New to RJC?
    • Members Only >
      • Membership Directory
      • Committee Notes >
        • Cemetery
        • Communication
        • Community Outreach
        • Endowment Reports
        • Events
      • Meeting Minutes
      • Budgets
      • Yahrzeits
      • Iyyar Yahrzeits
  • Contact Us

Reflections

D'vrei Torah by Rabbi Ellie Shemtov

12-Step Torah    Parashat Chayei Sarah 5781

11/12/2020

 
Picture
Getting something you've never had requires doing something you've never done.
​

When I made up my mind to go back to school and become a rabbi in mid-life, I knew it would be a difficult transition.  It had been years since I was a full-time college student.  Returning to school would also require me to leave a good government job, move from my home of twenty-three years in Washington, DC and find a way to support myself while in school in New York.  I had never done anything quite so risky but I was determined to move forward with what I believed was my life’s mission. 

At the very beginning of this week’s Torah portion Chayei Sarah, which means the life of Sarah, Sarah dies.  After burying his wife, Abraham decides it is time to find a wife for his son Isaac. He assigns this task to his servant Eliezer.  Without much pomp and circumstance, Eliezer meets Rebekah, who he quickly decides possesses the right qualities for Isaac. One of those qualities is kindness.  In response to Eliezer’s request for water, Rebekah not only provides him with a drink but then unprompted, draws water for Eliezer’s camels.

Rebekah agrees to go back with Eliezer and marry Isaac. In doing so she not only has to leave home but also travel to a place she has never been and marry someone she has never met.  Whatever her plans for the future had been before Eliezer entered her life, Rebekah seizes the moment without hesitation.  She somehow knows her fate lies with Isaac.   

Not unlike my own decision to leave everything I had known for twenty-three years behind me, Rebekah decides to leave the only life she had ever known and go with Eliezer.  It was a decision grounded in the belief that in order to get something you’ve never had you need to do something you have never done.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ellie 

Comments are closed.

    Archives

    October 2024
    May 2024
    October 2023
    June 2023
    October 2022
    May 2022
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019

    RSS Feed

We Would Love to Have You Visit US!  


OFFICE Hours
​Monday—THURSDAY    11:00—3:00 pm

Telephone

802-773-3455

Email                                                               ADDRESS

[email protected]          96 Grove St. Rutland, VT 05701
  • Welcome to RJC
    • About >
      • Our Rabbi
      • History >
        • History to 1985
        • RJC Centennial
        • Rabba Kaya Stern-Kaufman
        • Rabbi Emeritus Doug Weber
      • Board + Committees
    • Application for Membership
    • Psalms For Peace and Healing
  • May 2025
  • Calendar/Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
    • Full Calendar
  • Zoom Links 2025
  • Donate
    • Cemetery Donations
    • General Donations
  • Lifecycle Events
    • Brit Milah / Baby Naming
    • Education >
      • Youth Education
      • Adult Education
      • Rabbi Shemtov Reflections
      • Rutland Raps
    • B'nai Mitzvah
    • Weddings
    • Our Cemetery >
      • Cemetery FAQ
  • Connect
    • Klezmer Band
    • Directions
    • New to RJC?
    • Members Only >
      • Membership Directory
      • Committee Notes >
        • Cemetery
        • Communication
        • Community Outreach
        • Endowment Reports
        • Events
      • Meeting Minutes
      • Budgets
      • Yahrzeits
      • Iyyar Yahrzeits
  • Contact Us