This is so spot on. And I'm a survivor of this mentality.
10 years ago when I started seriously engaging in getting myself a delayed Jewish education, I figured I should go to rabbinical school. I was getting so much spiritually out of my new davenning practice, out of keeping Shabbat, out of learning some Talmud. No one else I knew in my liberal circles did these things. Everyone that I'd ever met who could talk about these subjects was in rabbincal school, or had been.
Yet something in me was pretty sure I didn't want to be a rabbi. But where else would I learn Hebrew and gemara and how to use a concordance? It took me years to figure that out.
I'm relieved I let those rab school applications collect dust. The rabbinate isn't for me, not by a long shot, and it took me a while to be able to articulate why. (No one should go to any graduate program if they're not sure why they're going, by the way. Unless of course they have a big fat fellowship.)
There are so many other things a girl can do with a Jewish education - in her free time or professionally. (And there are so many places to keep learning that I can't even begin to link to them.) I'm so happy to see your blog post...and I wish essays like this had been around for me to read 10 years ago when I was struggling with this.
This is so spot on. And I'm a survivor of this mentality.
10 years ago when I started seriously engaging in getting myself a delayed Jewish education, I figured I should go to rabbinical school. I was getting so much spiritually out of my new davenning practice, out of keeping Shabbat, out of learning some Talmud. No one else I knew in my liberal circles did these things. Everyone that I'd ever met who could talk about these subjects was in rabbincal school, or had been.
Yet something in me was pretty sure I didn't want to be a rabbi. But where else would I learn Hebrew and gemara and how to use a concordance? It took me years to figure that out.
I'm relieved I let those rab school applications collect dust. The rabbinate isn't for me, not by a long shot, and it took me a while to be able to articulate why. (No one should go to any graduate program if they're not sure why they're going, by the way. Unless of course they have a big fat fellowship.)
There are so many other things a girl can do with a Jewish education - in her free time or professionally. (And there are so many places to keep learning that I can't even begin to link to them.) I'm so happy to see your blog post...and I wish essays like this had been around for me to read 10 years ago when I was struggling with this.