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Began Conservative Day School
I went to Conservative day school from nursery school until grade 5 (excluding my year in Israel). It was walking distance from my house, and I especially enjoyed the opportunities I had to continue using my Hebrew skills after I returned from Israel. -
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Lived in Israel
One of the first major events in my Jewish life was spending the year living in Israel when I was 8. I learned Hebrew fluently and was exposed to a much more traditional form of Judaism at school. We also toured the country, which I fell in love with uncomplicatedly. -
Began Orthodox Day School
After a couple years back in Vancouver after the year in Israel, we realized as a family that the day school my brother and i had been attending wasn't providing us the Jewish education we were after. So we switched to the local Orthodox day school (Vancouver Hebrew Academy), where classes were segregated by gender from 7th grade onwards. -
Bar Mitzvah
I had my bar-mitzvah, which I looked forward to most of the previous year, on a snowy March day in 2002 at the Renewal shul I grew up in. Me and my family led the whole thing, and while I have improved some in my public speaking skills since then, it was a very special weekend. -
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Attended Yeshiva (Pacific Torah Institute)
After four years of tremendous learning and immersion in Orthodox life and practice, I emerged from high school having made lasting relationships with both peers and mentors, believing firmly in the worldview as presented at Pacific Torah Institute (in Vancouver, BC). I was a part of the first graduating class. -
March of the Living
In April-May 2006, I went on March of the Living, spending a week in Poland learning about Jewish history and visiting multiple concentration camps, and then a week in Israel touring the country and connecting to the narrative of Israel as a safe haven from the threat of future oppression. -
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Attended Pardes
For a year and a half after my undergraduate education, I lived in Jerusalem and studied at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies. It was a truly transformative time, during which I was able to find a Judaism that worked for me, blending a devotion to the wisdom of our tradition with a willingness to be shaped by modern values as well. I also met my wife there, who had come to sharpen her text skills in the midst of her studies towards her PhD. -
Wedding
Married the love of my life surrounded by family and friends at the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, MA. One of the great joys of planning the wedding was having one of the rabbis who taught both of us while we were at Pardes officiate the wedding, and getting the chance to really craft the ritual to reflect our deepest Jewish values. -
Began Rabbinical School
One week after my wedding, I began life as a Hebrew College Rabbinical Student. It was a tough decision - both whether to go and where - but I am confident I made the right choice, and I am looking forward to my penultimate year!
