Aleeza Kerbel

Both of my parents are Jewish.  My dad is from South Africa, and grew up in Israel.  My family lived in England for a while and moved to America for a better Jewish life.  I grew up Modern Orthodox, we went to shul every week, kept Shabbat, had meals together, kept the holidays, kept kosher, fasted on fast days.  I went to Jewish school through high school, first at Yeshivat Rambam and then Beth Tefila.  We made a bat mitzvah at 13, because we waited a year for my twin brother.

I’m not as religious as I used to be growing up.  Around 9th grade I felt that Shabbat and other Jewish observances were not the way I connected to Judaism. I was involved socially, as NCSY chapter president and with CTeen in the later years of high school, and also as Hillel Social Chair in college, but I wasn’t doing much in terms of Jewish learning.

Yes.  If I wasn’t doing TPF, I would be doing no Jewish learning.  TPF is giving me the opportunity to have Jewish growth in my life.  I remember as a child hearing that without kavana your prayers don’t mean anything, and at the same time, we were forced to pray and learn our Hebrew and Tanach curriculum, making us resent it.   With TPF I make choices about what I learn, which makes it a lot more meaningful.

It sounded awesome and tempting.  It’s a nice way to keep you consistent with it.  I look at it as a way to say, “Thank you for continuing your Jewish learning.”  It brings you back every single week; I don’t think I’ve missed a single week.

I was matched with Adina Swiatycki (of Etz Chaim, Baltimore), and we learned together for about a year.  I thought it would be cool to tell my friends about it.  Then, when they joined, I suggested that we all learn together as a group, this way we have people coming from all different Jewish backgrounds with many different perspectives.  Not every week can everyone come, but since we have a group of 6 there’s always a group presence, even if some have to back out.  My boyfriend just joined the group as well; he is the 7th group member.

Adina will either send us a podcast series, asking us to choose the particular topic amongst ourselves, or she will choose the specific podcast.   During the group discussion, each one of us has to present 5 points mentioned in the podcast that they found particularly interesting.

Abortion, suicide, and other ethical issues.  They are important issues even if we’re not struggling with them personally.  We sometimes listen to The Meaningful People Podcast.   Early on, we heard a father telling about his daughter’s eating disorder and eventual suicide.  It’s refreshing to hear about real issues without them being swept under the rug.

Our group leader Adina has shared so much of her life with us.  She’s much more than just a group leader.  For example, when my roommate’s father passed away, Adina told me about a similar personal experience.  She gave advice and perspective on how to help my roommate.

Her advice was to say, “This is hard and we can’t fix this, we can’t expect life to go smoothly, but we’re here for you.”

“The Podcast Fellowship has given me the opportunity to meet with a powerful and strong-minded group of women, and to come to Judaism on my own terms.”