ROCKLAND — Rabbi Rachel Isaacs of Colby College and Beth Israel Congregation in Waterville will be at Adas Yoshuron Synagogue in Rockland July 25-26 for a Sabbath weekend of services, learning, and discussion. 

Services on Friday, July 25 begin at 6:30 p.m. and will be followed by a catered dinner, $10/person, $40 max/family. Reservations for dinner are required. All are welcome to services. Saturday services begin at 10 a.m. and will be followed by a lunch and discussion. RSVPs are recommended for lunch, which is offered free of cost.

 

Named one of America’s Most Inspiring Rabbis by the Jewish Daily Forward earlier this year, Rabbi Isaacs is the first openly gay rabbi ordained by the Conservative Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS). According to an article in the magazine published by Wellesley College, from which Rabbi Isaacs is a graduate, she knew she wanted to be ordained as a Conservative rabbi, but the Conservative movement of Judaism was not ordaining openly gay rabbis, or even admitting them to its seminary. She enrolled in the Reform movements Hebrew Union College, which had no problem accepting and ordaining openly gay students. In 2007, JTS changed its rules and voted to accept openly gay rabbinic students, and Rabbi Isaacs transferred, soon becoming the first openly gay woman ordained by the JTS. She is now the Jewish chaplain at Colby College, where she teaches Hebrew and Jewish theology and heads up the Hillel Jewish student organization. She also serves as rabbi of Beth Israel Congregation in Waterville.

 

Rabbi Isaacs will lead services and address the theme of “Faith and Doubt.” According to Rabbi Isaacs, “Throughout Shabbat, both through divrai Torah, and a lunchtime class, we will explore the tension between faith in God and tradition and the doubts that stem from modernity and personal or communal tragedy. We will learn together texts from the Hasidic tradition and some of the most iconic Jewish texts written in the wake of the Holocaust.”

 

All are welcome to attend the Friday and Saturday services, meals, and discussions. RSVPs are greatly appreciated. For more information and to RSVP please contact Adas Yoshuron Synagogue, 207-594-4523, info@adasyoshuron.org.