In Rabbi, Your Cleavage is Showing, you share the hardships of your youth, your experiences in the paratroopers’ entertainment corps, and your groundbreaking ordination as one of the first female rabbis in America. Why was this an important book for you to write? 

As a “first,” I don’t think many people realized the hurdles that came from within the organization-the systemic misogyny that existed. The first woman ordained by the movement in Cincinnati, had the support of the President of the Seminary who resided there so the rest of the professors and deans had to accept that fact. In New York, there was no such support at all and all were free to act on their own feelings.

The transition from Manhattan privilege to kibbutz life in Israel is dramatic. How did that shift transform your worldview?

I developed an appreciation for the life that the kibbutzniks chose- that is, the complete dedication to a socialist principle of what is good for one is good for all. The decisions were made by a vote of the members so if there was money to give tv’s -then everyone would receive it. This view, however, got tiresome after years of successes and when some families received presents, they no longer wanted to have to give them up 9expensive things such as air conditioners, refrigerators, etc. There was a rift created amongst the people who earned money by working in their profession outside the kibbutz such as professors at universities, who earned so much more. Eventually, there was a rethinking how to keep things “fair.” Watching families grapple with this taught me so much about economics, fairness and sharing.

Why was it important not to soften or sanitize the misogyny you encountered?

If I had “sanitized” the institutional misogyny, how could we learn to improve things? I strongly feel that the institution did not do enough to work with the hundreds of male rabbis serving before ordaining the first women, as the resistance within the organization was deleterious to women and hurtful. My decision was to tell my truth as to what I experienced, warts and all, but not to mention names. I did not want this book to be a revenge book, but rather, my story, recognizing that over time, there would be changes. But changes in attitudes take longer than other types of changes and many women after me still suffered.

What is one thing you hope readers take away from your experiences? 

I hope that readers see that maybe I had to change my outlook or what I initially wanted from life, but I was able to succeed and be happy doing many other things. I always considered myself a sort of “Renaissance woman” because I had so many interests and passions. I was executive director of 2 great non-Jewish not-for-profit organizations and then moved to leading a Master’s Program on Community Arts Management and then to a Fortune 500 company as Manager of Community and Government Programs. I loved those jobs and my training was never lost. As a published poet, I used much of my learning about Judaism and life to craft all sorts of poetry. Maybe the one thing to takeaway is flexibility. There are many unique opportunities in life if you seek them out. All was not lost.

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