There is a story told in Masechet Brachot about the day Rabban Gamliel was deposed. Rabban Gamliel had placed restrictions on who could enter the beit midrash. But on that day:

 

סִלְּקוּהוּ לְשׁוֹמֵר הַפֶּתַח וְנִתְּנָה לָהֶם רְשׁוּת לַתַּלְמִידִים לִיכָּנֵס. They dismissed the guard at the door and permission was granted to all the students to enter.

 

הַהוּא יוֹמָא אִתּוֹסְפוּ כַּמָּה סַפְסַלֵּי. On that day, some benches were added.

 

Some say four hundred benches were added, some say seven hundred benches.

 

Those benches made room for me.

 

In my family, you have to go back as many as five generations to find anyone observant before me. When I was three, my parents moved from Israel to the United States. I went to public school. In a small community Hebrew school, I encountered myself, my people, our Land and our story. By the time I entered graduate school to study Jewish history, my Hebrew skills remained in grade school. I think my accent charmed the entrance committee. Room on the bench was made.

 

But I did not only want to learn about the Jewish past, I wanted to live actively in the Jewish present and contribute to the Jewish future. I began my journey to full halachic observance.

 

When I learned about Yeshivat Maharat, another spot on the bench appeared. Now I could devote my best thinking to Torah itself.

 

And my mission, as I step into the world as a rabbanit, is to open the doors wider and to add hundreds of benches to the beit midrash. Some say, even seven hundred.

With immense gratitude—thank you to my family. Jeff, it’s not the years, it’s the mileage! I couldn’t be more filled with awe at our journey together and I can’t wait for our coming adventures. Thank you for supporting me, walking with me, making me laugh, keeping me grounded, and believing in me with the deepest love. To Nathan: your moral vision, penetrating questions, and unending love challenge and sustain me. We did it for the memes, but so much more than that, too. To Ronen: with you by my side, I can do anything. I love reading with you, hearing your insightful observations about the world around you, and dreaming with you about all the things we will do. To Daniel: you are my beacon, always guiding me to be the best that I can be by your example. Your care, responsibility, and creativity shine brightly and inspire me. To my mother, sister, and extended family: your love is felt beyond oceans and mountains. You are my roots, and have also given me the wide open sky. 

 

Thank you to all my rabbis and teachers, who saw me, believed in me from the start, welcomed me into the community, supported me personally, and taught me Torah at the highest levels. When I left the halls of academia for the beit midrash, I wished more than anything to understand “inside” the Torah of the great Rishonim whom I had studied in historical perspective. Reb Jeff, you have taught me not only their Torah but also how to learn, how to approach and break down a halachic topic, and how to enter into the great conversation itself. Rabbi Mintz, I could not have imagined that by the end of the four years I could read a sugya off the daf, anticipate its moves, and even add my own questions. You have opened Shas for me. Rabbi Erin, you introduced me to an entire world of learning in Chasidut which has profoundly impacted my own thinking. Rabba Wendy and Rabbanit Devorah, your brilliance, depth, and clarity have stayed with me and continue to inspire me. Thank you, Rabba Sara and Rav Avi, for building this incredible institution, my home, so that my dreams could be made real. Thank you also to the wider community of Maharat, including our amazing board of directors, who work endlessly and with such deep commitment to make our learning and community possible.

 

And finally, thank you to the women who are my dear friends and esteemed colleagues, who teach me so much, cheer me along, fill me with pride, understand why it’s funny, send me love across the miles, and are there for me in more ways than I have words for. To each and every one of my chevrutot, I will always hold closely our time together.