Because I have delighted in Jewish prayer, teaching, community-building, and leadership, I have recognized in myself a deep desire to serve the Jewish people as a rabbi.
I’ve been leading Jewish community for nearly six years, first as a co-leader of The Open Tent , a local independent grassroots chavurah. I've planned and led dozens of events ranging from seders and Shabbat dinners to adult education classes and retreats. I currently lead davening and chant Torah at both Temple Chai and The New Shul of Scottsdale, and serve as a Bnei Mitzvah tutor at Temple Chai and in the greater Phoenix area. I've led shiva minyans, visited the sick in assisted living, hospitals, and hospice, and spoken at Limmud of Arizona about mystical interpretations of the liturgy.
I asked admissions directors how best to prepare for rabbinical school, and they all said the same thing: the missing pieces in my application are text study and Hebrew. I’m currently taking a Modern Hebrew course which covers a year's worth of Hebrew in just seven weeks.
I was recently accepted to do a full year of study in Chicago at SVARA: A Traditionally Radical Yeshiva , a rigorous beit midrash-style Talmud program with a unique approach to Talmud through an LGBT lens. Currently only in its second year, this program is fast becoming known as one of the nation's most rigorous and most innovative (to learn more about the program, click HERE ). In addition to providing a solid foundation in the Hebrew, Aramaic, and text skills that I need, a year at SVARA promises to be an incredibly formative experience for me.
I've been excited about the possibility of learning with Rabbi Benay Lappe, founder and Rosh Yeshiva of SVARA, ever since I first stumbled across her TED talk online (click HERE to watch, and her ELI talk is also fabulous). The need for LGBT clergy and leadership is greater than ever, and I believe spending this year alongside other future LGBT Jewish leaders will be an ideal bridge to rabbinical school and will give me a unique perspective on Talmud that will forever transform the way I engage Jewish texts.
Here is where I need your help.
In its pilot year, this program was fully-funded and thus free for students. This year, tuition will total $5,000 for the year. I plan to hold a job while at SVARA, but I will still need your help to cover tuition and additional costs such as the cost of moving, books, housing, and winter clothes (I'm an Arizonan whose last snowy winter was in 2004). My best estimate for these additional expenses is about $15,000 for the year. Filling my entrance requirements at SVARA is much more affordable than the alternative, which would be to spend a sixth year at rabbinical school.
I am immensely grateful for all of you. It is your generosity and continued support that makes taking this next step in my journey possible.
Be'ahavah rabbah,
With a great love,
Allen
I’ve been leading Jewish community for nearly six years, first as a co-leader of The Open Tent , a local independent grassroots chavurah. I've planned and led dozens of events ranging from seders and Shabbat dinners to adult education classes and retreats. I currently lead davening and chant Torah at both Temple Chai and The New Shul of Scottsdale, and serve as a Bnei Mitzvah tutor at Temple Chai and in the greater Phoenix area. I've led shiva minyans, visited the sick in assisted living, hospitals, and hospice, and spoken at Limmud of Arizona about mystical interpretations of the liturgy.
I asked admissions directors how best to prepare for rabbinical school, and they all said the same thing: the missing pieces in my application are text study and Hebrew. I’m currently taking a Modern Hebrew course which covers a year's worth of Hebrew in just seven weeks.
I was recently accepted to do a full year of study in Chicago at SVARA: A Traditionally Radical Yeshiva , a rigorous beit midrash-style Talmud program with a unique approach to Talmud through an LGBT lens. Currently only in its second year, this program is fast becoming known as one of the nation's most rigorous and most innovative (to learn more about the program, click HERE ). In addition to providing a solid foundation in the Hebrew, Aramaic, and text skills that I need, a year at SVARA promises to be an incredibly formative experience for me.
I've been excited about the possibility of learning with Rabbi Benay Lappe, founder and Rosh Yeshiva of SVARA, ever since I first stumbled across her TED talk online (click HERE to watch, and her ELI talk is also fabulous). The need for LGBT clergy and leadership is greater than ever, and I believe spending this year alongside other future LGBT Jewish leaders will be an ideal bridge to rabbinical school and will give me a unique perspective on Talmud that will forever transform the way I engage Jewish texts.
Here is where I need your help.
In its pilot year, this program was fully-funded and thus free for students. This year, tuition will total $5,000 for the year. I plan to hold a job while at SVARA, but I will still need your help to cover tuition and additional costs such as the cost of moving, books, housing, and winter clothes (I'm an Arizonan whose last snowy winter was in 2004). My best estimate for these additional expenses is about $15,000 for the year. Filling my entrance requirements at SVARA is much more affordable than the alternative, which would be to spend a sixth year at rabbinical school.
I am immensely grateful for all of you. It is your generosity and continued support that makes taking this next step in my journey possible.
Be'ahavah rabbah,
With a great love,
Allen