My first stop of the day was a visit to the Contemporary Jewish Museum of San Francisco that reopened during the summer of 2008. The building is quite exceptional as it was the former historic Jessie Street Gas & Electric (PG&E) Power Substation, a 1907 landmark designed by architect Willis Polk. I was greatly moved by one of the exhibits called Our Struggle: Responding to Mein Kampf. This exhibit is a result of French painter and photographer, Linda Ellia’s, encounter with a copy of Mein Kampf in 2005. She actually tore the book apart and gave the pages to various people including strangers. Her request to them was to do anything with that page and use it as an expression of art. The exhibit showed many of these people’s artwork on their individual pages. It was powerful so if you ever have a chance to go to San Francisco anytime from now until June- you must stop at this museum and check out their exhibits.

Later that evening, I arrived at Shaar Zahav and my high school classmate, Danny Kodmur, was waiting to greet me at the door. We had not seen each other since high school! He looked wonderful and was a gracious host as I entered into the synagogue. Before the service, Rabbi Camille Angel welcomed me to her study as we had a chance to catch up. Rabbi Angel and I were classmates during rabbinical school and it was a true honor to speak on her bimah for this Shabbat evening. Somehow, word got out and there were at least 10 deaf people that came to the service because they heard that there was a deaf rabbi speaking. Most people have never met a deaf rabbi since there are only a few of us in this world. They were humbled by my presence and I enjoyed visiting with them during the Oneg. Along with them, there were several other visitors including my daughter, Rachel and her friend Alana and family from Davis, several other rabbis who belong to Shaar Zahav and wanted to be there to hear me speak and also Elyssa Match, Bobbie Match’s daughter who lives in SF. Bobbie is one of our TAE ECC teachers and I have known her children, Alyssa and Charlie, since they were children in our TAE community.

Throughout the evening, there was such warmth and a strong sense of community. Attending this particular synagogue as it is geared to the gay and lesbian community allowed me to have a better understanding as to why we must remain open minded and remember the importance of tolerance to welcome all people together as one human race. There is no one person less or more than others and that is what Shaar Zahav has done.

Visit to Congregation Sha'ar Zahav, San Francisco, CA

“…the Congregation of the Golden Gate, is a progressive Reform synagogue, established in 1977. We are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and heterosexual Jews, together with family and friends, both Jewish and non-Jewish. We come from a wide range of religious, ethnic, class and cultural backgrounds to worship God with egalitarian, feminist and gay-positive Jewish liturgy.
Please join us for our very special guest, Rabbi Rebecca Dubowe, the first female deaf ordained Rabbi in the world.
"I Heard God’s Call… A Sacred and Personal Story of Rabbi Rebecca L. Dubowe, the first deaf female ordained rabbi”

“Rabbi Dubowe will share her personal experiences and insights about the importance on inclusion especially in the Jewish community The Baal Shem Tov said: It is not good to be alone, for one cannot know one’s differences. Other people are mirrors, in which one can discover their own differences by observing the acts of others." Rabbi Dubowe will address the great needs of those who are alone because of their differences. Are our synagogue doors open wide enough to welcome all who want to embrace Judaism and be a part of the Jewish community?

Following Shabbat services will be an informal Q&A discussion with Rabbi Rebecca Dubowe. All are welcome.”

The third day of the CCAR conference was about professional development. The theme of the two workshops was on how we as rabbis use the pulpit to inspire, comfort and communicate. The emphasis on these workshops was on Social Media that includes blogging, facebook, twitter among other new technologies. Some technology experts say that email will no longer be the main source of communication but rather it will be through social media. It was fascinating to learn and understand the various types of media and left me wondering as to how many people in our TAE congregation actually use one or more of these social medias.
The second workshop was about visual t’fillah and the idea of using visual media during the services. The challenge is how to balance one’s own personal t’fillah along with the community and to use a visual image or picture on the bimah during the service. This idea is not so new as its greatly used in the mega churches. Later in April, I will be visiting Woodlands Community Synagogue in New York that actually uses Visual T’fillah once a month. I look forward to this t’fillah experience and to bring back some insights to the possibility that this might be something we would like to try here at TAE.

Since there is so little time for rabbis to do everything, the conference coordinators scheduled programs back to back so that we can do everything as usual! Tuesday morning, all the committee meetings were held at 7am! One of them was the CCAR Committee on Disability Awareness and Inclusion. The Chair of this Committee is Rabbi Lynne Landsberg who has an incredible story. She was in a very bad car accident and was left with a brain injury that caused her to walk with a cane and with limited short-term memory however this did not stop her from becoming a strong vocal advocate for those with special needs within in the Jewish community. Lynne invited me to be the speaker for this meeting and I graciously accepted this honor. There were about 15 rabbis who attended this committee because inclusion is on their agenda within their own synagogues. I was challenged to think of what to say that they have not already heard. Being in the rabbinate, we tend to believe that we are problem solvers. I explained to the group that we will not be able to solve all the problems or issues related to inclusion however we can change the language or actions that we may use on a daily basis. The most important action that a rabbi or synagogue leader can do is to acknowledge the family with special needs once they enter our sanctuary. Just to welcome and greet them, neighbors or strangers can take us a long way. It is about human touch and reaching out. This is so true especially with families that have special needs. My colleagues greatly agreed and know that it takes one step at a time to make a difference in their congregants’ lives.

My Second Stop... San Francisco
Sunday, March 7- Thursday, March 11, 2010
Attending the CCAR Annual Conference
“The CCAR was founded in 1889. Its members are the body of rabbis who consider themselves and are considered to be the organized rabbinate of Reform Judaism.
The CCAR enriches and strengthens the Jewish community by empowering Reform Rabbis to provide religious, spiritual and organizational leadership as it:
• Fosters excellence in Reform Rabbis
• Enhances Reform Rabbis’ professional and personal lives
• Amplifies the voice of the Reform Rabbinate in the Reform Movement, the Jewish community and the world in which we live.
Its members consist of Reform Rabbis ordained at the HUC-JIR Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, as well as Reform Rabbis ordained at liberal seminaries in Europe, and some rabbis who joined the Reform movement sometime subsequent to ordination.”
Rabbi Alan Greenbaum, Rabbi Ted Riter and I were all ordained by the HUC-JIR , Hebrew Union College, Jewish Institute of Religion and are members of the CCAR.

I had the pleasure to visit my daughter’s synagogue. As you may know Rachel, my eldest is a sophomore at UC Davis. All her life, Rachel has known what it meant to be an “RK” …a rabbi’s kid. Growing up at TAE, being a part of the youth group and as a madrichah – it has definitely prepared Rachel for opportunities while attending Davis. Her major is Human Development with a possible minor in Jewish Studies. She is currently a teacher of the 4th grade at the religious school on Sundays. On those mornings, the community gathers into the sanctuary for t’filah just like we do at TAE with Cantor David. Since Rabbi Wolfe, the Beth Haverim rabbi, was on sabbatical, Rachel asked me if I would come and lead the families into t’filah. In addition to a number of teachings -I took the opportunity to teach them how to do the Shema in sign language. It was my first time outside of TAE to teach my favorite prayer in sign with Rachel on my side. It was incredible. A holy moment that ended in complete silence with no words or music but music to my ears!

My First Stop…Davis, CA
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Visit to Congregation Beth Haverim
“Founded in 1961, Congregation Bet Haverim still counts among its members some of the “first families” who began a Jewish fellowship in Yolo County in order to share simchas, sorrows and faith with friends who felt like family.
Today, Bet Haverim continues in the spirit of our founders by welcoming the full range of diverse Jewish and interfaith families: single parents, singles, multi-cultural and multi-racial families, gays and lesbians, people of all ages and people with special needs.
As Yolo County’s only synagogue, the congregational family includes more that 280 member households, and offers an on-site Sunday school and Hebrew school, in addition to Gan Haverim, Yolo County’s only Jewish preschool. Ample adult education opportunities, spirituality programming and holiday celebration also are at the core of the vibrant and dynamic synagogue experience at Bet Haverim.”