Dear Friends,
I almost can’t believe this is my last Shmoozy letter before my sabbatical, but it’s true. I’ve led my last services until July, and I’m tying up some loose ends, but it’s starting to feel very real. I am so incredibly grateful to be able to take this time to learn, to explore, to re-focus, and to rest. While rabbinic sabbaticals are a long-held Jewish tradition, I am very much aware of the work and the resources that go into making mine possible. I truly am filled with love for the entire community – for my coworkers, the board, and so many volunteers, but really for all of you – for making this possible. It has always been a deep honor to serve this community, and now I feel that much more humbled.
After nine and a half years with the Havurah, it’s going to be challenging to take space away (you’re my people). Hill Havurah, I really love you. You’re warm and authentic and weird and down-to-earth. You’re a little bit all over the place – so many different kinds of Jewish journeys, so many different personalities – and that just makes you even more beautiful. With all that diversity, our shared vision of an inclusive Jewish community of learning, celebration, and mutual support is especially strong.
I am often not immediately thrilled to wake up to an alarm on the weekends and “go to work.” But then I show up, and it’s you – and I’m reminded, over and over again, that even if I weren’t lucky enough to do this work professionally, this is the kind of Jewish life I’d want to build for fun, and you are the people I’d want to build it with. I got really lucky with this community.
I’m also very aware of how necessary this time is. When I first came out of rabbinical school, I had been learning and exploring so much that it was practically bursting out of me, and I just wanted to share it! Over the years, though, I’ve been putting out so much more teaching than I’ve been taking in, and I know I’ve gotten repetitive. Over the next six months, I’ll have the opportunity to replenish the intellectual and spiritual well that I’ve been drawing from for almost a decade, and to come back refilled with torah that I’m already excited to share.
The Torah teaches that a shmita year, a year of rest every seven years, like a giant Shabbat, is what the earth needs in order to produce sustainably, and it’s also important for workers. I see this sabbatical as part of a long arc of sustainable leadership. A couple of middle schoolers keep asking me if I’m coming back after my sabbatical and I keep saying: yes, of course – that’s the point.
And so I really will be taking space. No emails, no pastoral care, no services. Student Rabbi Lev will be around two weekends per month to lead services, teach, and meet with anyone who would like to connect while they’re here. Rabbi Koach Baruch Frazier will be available for more time-sensitive pastoral care. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to them; they are both deeply wise, compassionate, and easy to talk to. The rest of the Hill Havurah staff and countless lay leaders will also be holding a lot during this time. This community is strong, and I feel incredibly confident in its ability to care for one another.
I’ll be missing multiple seasons with you – Tu B’shevat, Purim, Pesach, Yom HaZikaron and Yom Ha’atzma’ut, Lag Ba’Omer, and Shavuot – so I’d like to give a sabbatical-long blessing to you in honor of each of them:
I love you very, very much, and I’ll see you soon.
Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Hannah