Beauty of Divine Presence, 45 Days Omer 5782

May 30

Written By

Today is forty-five days, which is six weeks and three days of the Omer in the year 5782. תפארת שבשכינה. Tiferet ShebeShekhinah. Beauty within Divine Presence. Before this day began, the Beit Din of the Academy for Jewish Religion, California awarded me smicha. I became a rabbi.

Words Fail Me

Throughout the day, I lost my words. And then, we processed. I came into the sanctuary with my master degree hood on and got to my seat. I could not stop crying. The ceremony continued with the awarding of master's degrees to the chaplaincy graduates. They gave their speeches. We were called individually to the Beit Din and received a blessing. We came together, as rabbinical candidates and accepted the conditions of smicha. Then, we were proclaimed rabbis by the duly constituted rabbinical court. Next, the cantorial candidates were awarded ordination. Then, we each gave our speech. In between and after these events, there was a beautiful choir of our student peers and alumni colleagues.

Each graduate could only invite five attendees. All others had to watch on a Zoom webinar. After, I gathered with my family at my cousin's house. Our kids swam together. She and her husband set up gorgeous decorations for me. We ate and ate and ate. We watched old home movies and I heard my grandparents' voices for the first time in decades. It could not have been a more magical day.

Thank you to everyone who helped me reach this day.

I have floated on God's Love all day. The Beauty of Her Presence surrounds me. And now, I'm going to sleep.