A Jewish Professional’s Sacrifice
This article originally ran on a blog called NextGenJews which was run by the Jewish Federations of North America.
As I stood in front of the 90 students, a smile swept over my face. Here were these students who were attending a youth service led by teenagers on Rosh Hashanah. I realized that this is why I love what I do. I took my seat and watched my wonderful high school leaders lead an hour long service and gained such an appreciation that these are going to be the leaders of the Jewish community for many years to come.
These high school students led the prayers, led the song leading and read the Torah beautifully. This was the reason I wanted to continue working with Jewish youth; to give them guidance along their own Jewish path. As we neared the Torah service, another thought crept into my mind, “I should be with my family.”
This was not the first time this thought has entered my mind as a Jewish nonprofit professional but it had a different ring this time. Six months ago, my wife and I had our first son and it has completely changed our lives. Every morning, I look forward to waking up with my son’s big smile greeting me as my wife puts him next to me in the bed and this morning, I missed it because I had to rush to services.
Over the last four and a half years, there have been many instances where I have had to balance being a Jewish professional and living out my own Jewish identity. Each holiday comes and goes and each time I question why I would “sacrifice” being with my family for “working” the holidays. I then remember those that have served in my position before me and realize the choices they made to be my guides and mentors. If they did not serve in these roles, I would not be the person I am today.
From my own youth director, to the Hillel director at Colorado State University, to the rabbi at Arizona State University and the director of Jewish Mosaic, each of them had made choices before me to change the Jewish world. Some of them had turned down better paying jobs to serve the community while others lived in a smaller community than they would have liked to continue preparing the future generation of Jewish leaders.
If these four people chose to be part of the change in the Jewish community so could I. I have chosen to be a youth director. Yes, the pay is not great but the benefits of knowing that I am changing the Denver Jewish community for the future is why I keep doing what I do. Watching 23 high school students stand up and lead the entire Rosh Hashanah service, watching a family come to a Sukkot dinner for the first time, laughing with 50 students in an airport waiting to go to a convention which will change their lives forever, and watching a child cover their eyes during the Shema. These are all reasons I continue working in the Jewish community. I hope that ten years from now, one of these students will be the youth director for my son or the Hillel director at Colorado State University.
There have been “sacrifices” I have had to make with my family regarding Jewish holidays. And there have been times where I want to be with my family during a certain holiday or Shabbat but then I remember that I am with my family… my Jewish family and I wouldn’t give this up for anything!