MESSAGES FROM RABBI SARA ZOBER & RABBI BENJAMIN ZOBER
NEWSLETTER ARTICLES FROM OUR RABBIS
JULY 2018 TO PRESENT
RabbiSara@SinaiReno.org
RabbiBenjamin@SinaiReno.org
Rabbi Sara Zober grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, but spent her formative Jewish years in Lancaster County, PA. After graduating from Elizabethtown College with a degree in vocal performance and conducting, she converted to Judaism and was offered the position of Cantorial Soloist at Congregation Shaarai Shomayim in Lancaster. She served there for seven years before leaving for her studies at the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem. While in rabbinical school, she served both Reform and Conservative synagogues from the Dakotas to the Midwest, and participated in the Rabbis Without Borders’ student retreat and other interdenominational work. Her studies at HUC focused on the subjects of Jewish ethics and spirituality, and she received her Masters’ in Hebrew Letters in 2017. Her rabbinical thesis was entitled “Alei Shur: A Liberal Jewish Commentary on Selections from Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe’s Mussar Treatise,” and she prepared both the first English translation and commentary on that text. She was ordained in Cincinnati in 2018 and awarded the Ferdinand M. Isserman Prize for the greatest contribution towards community relations by the HUC-JIR faculty.
Rabbi Benjamin Zober grew up in Cleveland, Ohio learning to love winter, doomed sports franchises, and corned beef. After graduating from Brandeis University with a degree in European Cultural Studies and a minor in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, he returned to Cleveland and earned his J.D. from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. During his years as a lawyer, he spent time as a public defender, representing death row inmates in capital appeals. Seeking a more proactive approach to helping his community, Rabbi Zober applied to rabbinical school. During his time at Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion, he served communities in Michigan, West Virginia, Florida, and Illinois. Committed to social justice, Rabbi Zober served as a Social Justice Fellow in Cincinnati and attended the Religious Action Center’s Consultation on Conscience. His rabbinical thesis, “A Light Unto the Nation: 3 Jewish-American Responses to the Holocaust” detailed largely unknown efforts to intervene on behalf of Jews during the Shoah. He was ordained in 2018 and was awarded the Cora Kahn Prize for the graduating senior whose sermon delivery and oratory are considered to be the best. In his spare time (or what remains with rabbinical duties and being a proud step-dad to three wonderful kids) he likes to read, run, and make pop-up books.
As a couple, the Rabbis Zober live and work together, make goals together, and care for each other when they fall short. This is what communities at their best do for all of their members. The Rabbis’ hope is to help Temple Sinai nurture a Jewish community in touch with its values, a truly holy community united in its mission and vision for the future.
The Great Latke Debate
Dear Friends, As Chanukah approaches, so do the many great debates of the season. I am not referring to the one between Rabbis Hillel and Shammai over how we light the chanukiah (we settled that one – Hillel won and we light one the first night and increase each night as opposed to counting down). […]
Joy of Sukkot
Dear Friends, Let’s talk about the difference between Yom Kippur joy and Sukkot joy, because yes – both holidays are supposed to be joyful! Yom Kippur joy is letting go of the barriers we’ve put up in our lives against joy. The shoulds, the fear, the plans, the things we hide away. It’s a clean-out, […]
You Are the Temple
Dear Friends, Christ Church Reno has only been in our building a short while, but it is already providing so much for both of our congregations. A few weeks ago, I was invited to join them for Father Juan’s installation. Among the guests was Bishop Eric Menees of the Anglican Diocese. As he spoke, a […]
Hope for Ukraine
Dear Friends, Then there comes a day, when snow Begins to melt, and peasants go To sharpen ploughshares, and to plough, And to will their files, and sow. And as from forge or field they come, With horse and cart returning home, Meeting on the way, they chat Of many things, of this, and that. […]