Reno's Reform Congregation

Sabbatical Information

Rabbi Sara Zober and Rabbi Benjamin Zober

Rabbis' Sabbatical Q&A

“ When you enter the land that I assign to you, the land shall observe a Sabbath of the Lord. Six years you may sow your field and six years you may prune your vineyard and gather in the yield. But in the seventh year the land shall have a Sabbath of complete rest, a Sabbath of the Lord. ”

Leviticus 25:2-4

What is a sabbatical?

A sabbatical actually comes from Torah. It is part of a seven-year cycle, called Shmita, and it was originally meant for the land and for the people who were working the land. After seven years, you were to give the land a period of time to lie fallow and you were to give all of the people who worked the land that rest as well. A rabbinic sabbatical often comes after seven years and is an extended period where the Rabbi(s) get to rest, rejuvenate, and spend time with their family. For our Rabbis Zober, this will be a four-month sabbatical for the months of May, June, July, and August.
What will the Rabbis be doing while on sabbatical?

The Rabbis, along with Rabbi Sara’s parents and siblings, will be taking a family trip to Tuscany, Italy, to commemorate the well-deserved retirement of Rabbi Sara’s mother after 35 years of teaching. The Rabbis will then head to Scotland and England to join Rabbi Benjamin’s mother and brother for another family travel adventure. When not traveling abroad, the Rabbis will be catching up on personal projects at their home in Reno and taking small camping trips through the beautiful Mountain West.
Who will serve the congregation while the Rabbis are on sabbatical?

The congregation will be serving the congregation! While the Rabbis take the opportunity to explore where their passions are for new projects, this is an opportunity for the congregation to do the same. Temple Sinai has a long history of Temple members leading services, running programs, and teaching – doing all of the things that make a Community – and this is an opportunity for the congregation to strengthen those skills and take on even bigger roles.
Temple groups, like the weekly Torah study group, have put together a really ambitious syllabus for themselves, and members from the group will be teaching based on their own expertise. The Rabbis also hope that everyone takes time to really get to know one another and to see how the community pulls together without the presence of the Rabbis to steal the spotlight.
Will the Rabbis be in contact with Temple Sinai during their sabbatical?

In a word, no. Primarily, the Rabbis will be out of the country or camping out of cell service range. Many times, it will not be practical, or even possible, to contact the Rabbis for any given situation. In order to avoid confusion, the Rabbis’ work cellphones will be turned off and their emails will be deleted during this sabbatical period. We kindly ask that people suspend emailing the Rabbis until September 3rd. During the sabbatical, people will be directed to contact either our Temple Administrator, Mike Stombaugh, admin@sinaireno.org, or Temple President, Tova McGilvray, president@sinaireno.org, and they will assist in routing messages to an appropriate contact.
What if I have a personal or family crisis during the sabbatical?

The best course of action is to first contact either Mike Stombaugh or Tova McGilvray. There is a large cadre of people supporting Temple Sinai during this time, and Mike and Tova are the point people for triaging the need and accessing assistance that our community can provide.
What if I have a life-cycle event during the sabbatical?

We hope that if you have a joyous lifecycle event, you might wait until the Rabbis are back to celebrate with you. Fortunately for our Temple Sinai calendar, most life-cycle events, like weddings and when babies are born, take months of planning. To our knowledge, none of those events are set to happen among our community in the next four months.

If there is the unexpected need for a funeral, which we obviously cannot plan in advance, the Hebrew Cemetery Board – specifically Steve Matles (775-997-4565, smatles@sbcglobal.net) and Mike Medvin (775-771-8780, mikemedvin@yahoo.com) – are extremely skilled at leading families through the funeral process. In addition to guiding families through a funeral, they also have service leaders available to lead a funeral while the Rabbis are on sabbatical.
What if I’m interested in the conversion process during the sabbatical?
Temple Sinai does not currently have any conversion ceremonies planned during the sabbatical months. The students who are working towards conversion will continue their studies and participation in Temple life, and hopefully will continue to learn throughout the summer. The sabbatical will actually offer an opportunity for conversion students to learn from other people in the community beyond the Rabbis.

If you have not yet started on the path toward conversion, you are already welcome to attend and participate in all Temple services and community events. If you would like the Rabbis to contact you about starting your conversion education upon their return, please use this link to complete a brief intake form. You can also access self-guided conversion education materials below.
List of Website Resources

reformjudaism.org – The main website of the Union for Reform Judaism. It has lots of articles, explanations, and other things, all from a Reform perspective.

myjewishlearning.com – More great articles and information, good at explaining a lot of perspectives and traditions.

sefaria.org – a collection of Jewish texts, many in English (also great for Torah study).

There is also Jewish Encyclopedia – kind of what the name says. Dry, a bit older, but good content.
Jewish Virtual Library is also a good general source.

Books for getting started (any one of them is great!)

To Life! by Rabbi Harold Kushner (A classic from the author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People. This is his love letter to Judaism.)

Here All Along by Sarah Hurwitz (She was a speechwriter for Michelle Obama. She grew up Jewish but not really connected, so she went around to various scholars and thinkers to learn more and reconnect.)

Living a Jewish Life by Anita Diamant. (A good overview of what it is to be Jewish.)

Surprised by God by Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg (How an atheist, punk kid became Twitter’s favorite rabbi and an amazing teacher.)

Recommended Intro to Judaism Classes

Conversion Program: Introduction to Judaism Classes