Roll Call and Conversation.

Last night, I attended a dinner for the Women’s Rabbinic Network. This morning, I attended a breakfast jointly sponsored by the Union for Reform Judaism, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, and the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.

These were exciting meals for two reasons. The first was the class roll call. Starting with students that will be ordained in 2010, each class year was called and its students were asked to rise. This was powerful at both meals. At the breakfast, attendees went all the way back to 1936. At the WRN dinner, attendees went all the way back to Rabbi Sally Priesand, the first woman to be ordained in the United States, from the class of 1972.

Another wonderful thing about the meals was the opportunity to have conversations with colleagues. I am fortunate to live in a community with a number of rabbinical and clerical colleagues that I can talk to, but it can be difficult to carve out the time and space to have conversations like I have had this week.

We spoke about our own personal challenges and the challenges facing the Reform movement and the Jewish people. Whether balancing our work and our family life, learning to welcome interfaith families, or navigating innovations in worship, we benefit greatly from being able to share our struggles, and our best practices, with one another.