Occasionally, people from the Christian world will ask me if I have been “called” to be a rabbi. This question makes me uncomfortable. Ministers often have a “come to God” moment where they feel God has literally enlisted them into their profession. For rabbis and cantors it is very different.
The rabbinical school I attended was even uncomfortable with the term “ordination” because of the implication our journey was ordained by God. But, in some sense, I do feel called to do what I do. From the moment I stepped forth into the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College to meet with the admissions director Rabbi Reena Spicehandler in the summer of 1999, I felt I had found a home.
A very short woman, who sat behind a very big desk, she listened patiently to my words that afternoon and validated that I had come to the right place. After struggling during my early twenties to find a career path, I suddenly knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life.
Moses had a similar journey in his life. As we learned, earlier in the Torah, he was a reluctant prophet, having had to be coaxed by God to face Pharaoh and free our people. Here again at the beginning of the book of Leviticus, God has to directly reach out to Moses. Leviticus in Hebrew is named Vayikra, a book about being called. The Hebrew root of Vaykira – Kuf-Resh-Alef – means a loud cry.
The rabbis ponder how exactly God cries out to Moses. Is it a gentle soothing voice, that caresses Moses into God’s service, or is it a sound powerful enough to shatter trees, a sound Moses cannot possibly ignore? I, personally, side with the former. Just like the small crackle of the burning bush in the expanse of the wilderness, the outline of our life’s journey can be mysterious.
We must be open to all possibilities, and if we are lucky all of us will find a home in our professional life. To those of you in our community struggling to find a path forward, I know what a difficult space that can be. I pray that you too find the place to thrive, where the gifts you have been given can shine out to the world.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Alex