Reflecting On A Year of Southern Jewish Life

Another school year has come and gone, and the ending of the school year just so happens to coincide with my one-year anniversary of serving as the Director of Community Engagement at the Institute of Southern Jewish Life (ISJL).

To say that this has been a monumental year in my life would be an understatement. One year ago, my life was going a completely different direction until I received a phone call that changed everything. Two years ago, if you had said “Where will you be by summer of 2016?” I would have said I would be the principal of an elementary school in the Mississippi Delta. After all, I was already an assistant principal. I was on that path.

But paths change. I took a chance and I have fallen in love with my new path.

Working in the Jewish world has enriched my life in ways I never expected. There is a sense of community and bond that unites us all often spoken and often unspoken. When I decided to take on this role, I was afraid that I would lose that sense of purpose I had for over a decade in public education. Yet, here at the ISJL and with the work I am doing, I feel a greater purpose and I have the privilege of directing some of the most incredible programs that I have ever come across. I do not take for granted that I LOVE what I do.

One of the concessions I had to make when I left the school system was that I wouldn’t be around young people daily anymore. This was a major shift for me. I was used to having busy halls, people coming in and out of my office all day long, going inside and outside back and forth dozens of times a day. It was exhilarating and exhausting. I was able to sit with dozens of teachers each day and talk about how they were coming up with creative ways to work with students. I missed this so much. Right as the ache was starting to set in I was given another gift in my new Southern-and-Jewish-centered life: The chance to teach Sunday school at the local synagogue.

My Sunday School class
My Sunday School class

By becoming a 7th/8th grade Sunday school teacher, I not only had the chance to work with students again, but also I was able to understand why the ISJL curriculum is so outstanding. I never taught religious school before, and was so afraid of being unprepared and uninspiring (like many of my own religious school teachers). But — and I’m not saying this because of being on the ISJL staff! — I found myself taken care of, safe, and prepared because the curriculum was so well constructed and designed for everyday use by the everyday teacher.

It also helped that I had some of the coolest students any teacher could hope to have. Who would have guessed that I would be having philosophical debates about our purpose in the world, the value of social justice, and being “the only Jew” with a group of students that made me question things I had never pondered?

So, let’s recap. In the last year I shifted careers, started teaching in an area I had never worked in before, and moved to a new city, oh yeah, and I also adopted a dog. What’s the verdict, one year after veering off my old path?

I love my Southern and Jewish life.

Change is scary; there were plenty of doubt-filled moments and sleepless nights, but, a year later and I wouldn’t change a thing. Life is filled with twists and turns, some call it God’s plan, fate, destiny, serendipity, luck…I am just happy that for whatever reason, I have managed to wind up where I am and that life keeps throwing pleasant surprises my way.

L’Chaim!

Jewish food, holidays, Torah, Shabbat, history, blogs and more in your inbox – sign up now!

Discover More

Missy’s Farewell: Timehopping Through Two Southern & Jewish Years!

This is the first in a series of four farewell posts from the ISJL’s 2013-2015 Education Fellows, who will all ...

This Southern Jewish Life

Recently, the BBC worked with us to coordinate a trip down South for a news segment on Jewish life in ...

My Many Southern Jewish Families

For my family, like many Jewish families, holidays play an important role in our life. Holidays are the times when ...