Rabbi Heather Paul
Shalom, loved ones! This page is designed to raise funds to support the ALEPH Ordination Program in honor of my ordination as a rabbi in January 2023.
For the last five and a half years, I have been immersed in Jewish learning through our sacred texts, liturgy, music, history, and philosophy. My unique ordination program offered an environment that encourages innovation, creative expression, and experimentation. I learned how to weave the contemporary with the traditional in Jewish prayer spaces, ritual, and religious commentary. Now I am grateful to receive smicha (ordination), the transmission of our lineage from our teachers, and their teachers before them, as I step fully into my roles as a rabbi.
I am reaching out to you to ask for financial contributions in support of the ALEPH Ordination Program scholarship funds, to ensure that future generations will continue to benefit from this extraordinary ordination program.
Six years ago, I concluded my spiritual autobiography (part of my application to ALEPH) with the following words:
I am a writer who has never had words for everything. I am a historian. I am a memory addict. I am the girl who searched for herself in her great-grandparents’ stories. I am starved to learn and I am fueled by teachable moments. I am standing in a circle with my friends in the cliffs by the sea, singing the Havdalah blessings beneath the sky. I am a struggler-with-God. I seek to foster moments of connection in the face of radical disconnect. I am a mentor and a counselor whose superpower is empathy. I am smoke from a flame. I am a Jew who is always questioning, revising, and engaging with my identity. I want to empower others to do the same. I want to take my Jewish learning to the next level, and the one after that. I want to gain more knowledge of Hebrew, rabbinic literature and biblical history. I want to learn from educators who will inspire me to bring my whole self to Judaism, and challenge me to explore different dimensions of practice. I want to provide spaces that encourage deep relationships, real conversation, and a connection to the Divine Sparks within. I want to bring these threads of my life together so that what I do and who I am are one and the same. I want to become an ALEPH rabbi so that I can fulfill this dream.
As I am reaching the conclusion of my program, I am grateful to all who have supported me in my dream, and I hope you will honor my ordination by donating to support others who share the dream of becoming ALEPH clergy. Please explore this website to learn more about the ALEPH Ordination Program, ALEPH Alliance for Jewish Renewal, and our 2023 Smicha Ceremony. Visit my personal website to learn more about my journey. Thank you so much for your support.
