In order to begin the job search process as part of the last year of rabbinical school (WOAH!), we had to come up with our metaphor for the rabbinate. I spent a lot of time debating over different metaphors- rabbi as park ranger, rabbi as juggler, rabbi as conductor. But none of these really resonated with me in what I see as the role of the Rabbi. I settled on Rabbi as Relationship Therapist. As a rabbi I see it as my role to help people build relationships, plumb the depths of the relationships, what makes them work? How have they changed? What are we lacking in them? What can we do better? As a rabbi I want to help people build relationships with themselves, with their partners, lovers, friends, community, texts, traditions, history and with God. My job is to help these relationships blossom, flourish, and grow into a deeper, more meaningful relationship. Along the way, I will offer encouragement, suggest texts to push the learning deeper. I will engage in the hard conversations that accompany growing with oneself and with one another. I will be supportive on the journey and challenging when a little push is needed to really move to the next level in these relationships. Sometimes our relationships are broken, in disrepair, and I hope to be able to guide others through the process of healing. This is my hope as a rabbi- to be able to foster relationships with, love of and comfort with Judaism, people, tradition, ourselves.
Rabbi Eve Posen 