Making a Rabbi

Newsletter May 1, 2023 Together, we're #keepingitsacred...

What makes a rabbi, a rabbi?

Is it on the day of ordination when it is declared in front of all assembled? Is it when the first contract with a congregation is signed? Or at the publishing of the first book, or first wedding officiated, or first funeral led? Is it earlier, perhaps at the first calling to pursue the rabbinate as more than a vocation, but a way of life?

This Thursday marks my 15th year since my ordination as a rabbi May 4th, 2008, and my answer to this question is in all of the small moments when individuals call upon me. It may be for a blessing at a simcha, or for a prayer in a hospital. It may be with a great question in Talmud study, or as a request from a leader of a social justice movement. The rabbinate is not something to be attained, but rather is made day in and day out. A rabbi becomes a rabbi each time someone calls out, “rabbi?” 

And what a pleasure it is to respond. 

Reflecting on these past 3 years building Keeping It Sacred, I feel privileged to live out a vision of my rabbinate more fully than I could have ever imagined-- teaching, building, organizing, celebrating, bringing people together. With every program registration, every financial gift to the community, every call for spiritual counsel, you have given me the great honor of being a rabbi. Thank you for keeping it sacred. 

Together, we’re #keepingitsacred….

Rabbi Heather Miller

Founder, Keeping It Sacred

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The above is an excerpt from a Keeping It Sacred newsletter. If you want to read the entire newsletter or any from our archives, please head over to: keepingitsacred.com/news 

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Thanks for your interest, and thanks for #keepingitsacred...