Rabbi Leah Berkowitz

Leah Berkowitz

Rabbi Leah Rachel Berkowitz is the spiritual leader of Vassar Temple in Poughkeepsie, NY. She blogs at thisiswhatarabbilookslike.wordpress.com.

Blog Posts

Anita Diamant With the Jewish Wedding Now

An Interview with Anita Diamant

Rabbi Leah Berkowitz

The latest edition, The Jewish Wedding Now, came out this month, and I was delighted to interview Diamant after hearing her speak to the Women’s Rabbinic Network at our biennial convention.

Shabbat Candles

Shabbat is a Two-Person Job

Rabbi Leah Berkowitz

As an assistant rabbi, I'd found a rhythm: simple Friday night meals with friends; long, lazy Saturday afternoons to myself. Someday, I hoped to be partnered, and develop a new system, similar to my senior rabbi and his wife.

Topics: Rabbis
Members of the Commission on the Ordination of Women Rabbis

The One Personal Question You SHOULD Ask a Rabbinical Candidate in an Interview

Rabbi Leah Berkowitz

If you want to ask your (future) rabbi a personal question, it should be: “How can we best support you?”

Topics: Rabbis
This is Where I Leave You, Main Image, Film, 2015

Sitting Shiva Post-Election

Rabbi Leah Berkowitz

It wasn’t until people started calling me on Wednesday to express their condolences for “my loss” that I realized that I am grieving.

Ray Frank

“In a Place Where There Are No Men”

Rabbi Leah Berkowitz

The 21st century in general, and this season in particular, is a high stakes time in the congregational rabbinate. Taking a break from my annual scramble to produce four 20-minute sermons that will change the course of history (that’s really what it feels like), I had the opportunity to re-read some High Holy Day words that actually did change the course of history.

Topics: Yom Kippur
Close Up: Madame Secretary Notebook, HIllary Clinton Campaign 2016

I'm With Clinton, But I'm Not With Hillary

Rabbi Leah Berkowitz

On July 28, I watched, with tears in my eyes, as former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton became the first woman to be nominated as a presidential candidate by a major political party. Whatever your politics—this is not a political post—it was incredible to watch another glass ceiling shatter and heartwarming to imagine what this moment will mean for all of the young girls, staying up late to hear Clinton’s speech.

Typewriter Socks

On Wednesday, the Rabbi Wore Polka Dots

Rabbi Leah Berkowitz

A few weeks ago, I found myself eyeing a pair of socks decorated with typewriters. I used to love stuff like this, I thought, Why don’t I wear crazy socks anymore?

Oh yeah, I remembered, I’m a rabbi now.

The Sacred Calling: Four Decades Of Women In The Rabbinate cropped

The Sacred Calling: Reimagining Role Models

Rabbi Leah Berkowitz

My rabbinical association recently asked me to join their mentoring program. This request felt surreal to me. Eight years after ordination is practically nothing in terms of rabbinical experience, and, at 34, I’m still younger than some new ordinees. For much of my career, I’ve been told that I couldn’t possibly have enough “life experience” to be a rabbi myself. What could I possibly teach a colleague?

Topics: Rabbis, Non-Fiction
Passover Seder Table

Celebrating Women’s Seders vs. Celebrating Women at the Seder

Rabbi Leah Berkowitz

I have always found women’s seders perplexing, ever since my mother first dragged me to one when I was a teenager. To me, Passover is a family holiday, and it felt wrong to exclude half of our family from the celebration. I also didn’t understand why, instead of telling the story of the Exodus, we toasted Bella Abzug and Henrietta Szold.

Topics: Passover

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How to cite this page

Jewish Women's Archive. "Rabbi Leah Berkowitz ." (Viewed on April 19, 2024) <http://jwa.org/blog/author/leah-berkowitz>.