CBI Blogs

2 years ago, I was blessed to sign my second contract with Congregation Beth Israel. This new contract included a 3 month sabbatical, a real gift that not everyone receives during their rabbinate. We agreed that my sabbatical would take place during the year 5785 and could include whatever I deemed important to me. So, many of you are probably wondering, what did I do with my time off?

Well, I tried to pack in as much as possible! But, 3 months flew by. I began with a quick trip to New York City to conclude the rabbinic fellowship I had participated in for the past 18 months. My cohort met that final time in Manhattan to wrap up the formal learning part of the fellowship and spend time with one another before graduating the program. 
After my trip to New York, I reintroduced myself to my family. All jokes aside, I spent so much quality time with my husband and children. This allowed me to make Shabbat dinner a priority in our house, including homemade challah and other baked goodies. We played games together, went to parks, enjoyed the beautiful weather, ate meals with friends, and saw each other for more than a few minutes each day. 

My entire family traveled to Mexico for Thanksgiving, which proved to be, shall we say, challenging. It turns out my daughters, nieces, and nephew did not enjoy the change in scenery as much as the adults. But, we ate delicious food, swam in the pool and the beach, looked for whales, and expressed our gratitude for that sacred time together. A week after the somewhat disastrous Thanksgiving trip, I returned to Mexico with just my parents for a redo. That adventure was much better. 
December brought many quiet days and a lot of holiday celebrations, As I have done every year, I taught my older daughter’s entire grade about Chanukah and brought dreidels and gelt for them to enjoy. My oldest niece stayed with us for a few days and brought her pre-teen attitude with her. Again, we played outside and went to as many Austin-area parks as we could find. 
January brought the beginning of a new semester of school and a special trip to Las Vegas with my husband for a very dear friend’s 40th birthday celebration. That was my first time to Vegas and possibly my last. While I enjoyed spending time with my husband and friends, I’m not sure Vegas is really my scene. 

In between all of these wonderful adventures and important time with family and friends, I read 10 books. I baked lots of cookies, cakes, and other yummy items. I walked my dog nearly every day, something I don’t always have time for. And most importantly, I started learning how to play guitar! While I am nowhere near Sarah Avner’s ability, I have mastered Bim Bam and was told that I can now play every other Jewish song because they all have the same chords. 

While there were some difficult moments in my sabbatical, I am grateful for the time I had to rejuvenate and replenish my body and soul. I will not forget the amazing time spent with my children, and I hope they won’t either. 
I know that my sabbatical was indeed a gift, so like every good child raised in Texas, I would be remiss if I didn’t say thank you to those who made it possible. To the Board of Directors, in particular past president Lori Adelman, thank you for granting me this special time. To the CBI staff, especially Carrie Barrera (our wonderful clergy assistant), thank you for handling a lot of the programs and events I typically manage, for navigating the complexities of my calendar, and for all you do to make CBI run like a well-oiled machine. 

And of course, thank you to Sarah Avner and Rabbi Young. You made sure I took this time and didn’t let me think about work once when I was away. It typically takes all three of us working together to assure that CBI’s various needs are met and you did it with just the two of you, and you did it flawlessly. Thank you for supporting me and ensuring that I could rest and return, ready to jump back in. 

I look forward to catching up with each of you over the next few weeks! Maybe I’ll play a little something on the guitar while I’m at it.