Rabbinic Pastor Chaya Lerner
Getting Here
When I was in the 9th grade, I was chosen to give the dvar torah for my Reform congregation on the Book of Ruth. I should have known then that Hashem was calling me to Divine service.
But ignoring that, I went on to study psychology at Louisiana State University. My favorite classes were Judaism and comparative Western Religion. I should have known then I would be called to serve.
In the 1980s, my friends were contracting this “gay disease.”. I had decided a couple of years before to get my Masters in Social Work from Barry University. There was limited treatment for People with AIDS/HIV. I was helping people try to have a good life in the midst of an imminent death. I was searching for spiritual answers for the grief I was experiencing and the grief my clients were coping with. I had the idea of wanting to be a rabbi. I contacted the Hebrew Union College. I couldn’t leave my clients or my family. In the meantime, circumstances led me to Jewish Community Services of South Florida. I was a case manager for the Holocaust Survivors Assistance Program. Working with Holocaust survivors allowed me to face issues of healing trauma, intergenerational wounding and healing, grief and theodicy.
Rabbi Cheryl Weiner told me about ALEPH Alliance for Jewish Renewal. I can be clergy AND continue on with my life. It was the best experience I have ever had. When I began someone asked me how long will it take to finish the program. I said probably 10 years. Five and half years later, my dream has come true. I am here to take back what was taken from my family so many years ago.
Zachor: In Remembrance
My great grandparents, Shaya and Malka Lastmann z’l lived in Germany before the Shoah. Shaya died just before the war. Malka was swept up with my grandmother, mother and aunt. She spent the remaining days of her life in a detention camp. She sacrificed her life to so that my grandmother and her children could live.
My maternal grandparents, Littman and Johanna Lerner z’l. My grandfather was arrested on Kristallnacht and sent to Buchenwald. He was subsequently release thanks to the courage and persistence of my grandmother. My grandmother and her children were arrested and sent to Rivesaltes. She was threatened and tortured by Nazis because of her religion. She had the courage to take her children out of there and send them away to a Catholic convent. She had the courage to raise her daughters on her own and move them to another country to make a new life for the family. My grandmother taught me to love Judaism.
My paternal grandparents- Harry and Ethel Schulman z’l left Europe at the turn of the century to settle and raise a family in Texas and then move that family to New Orleans, La.
My parents, Hella and William D. Schulman zl. My mom always wanted me to have Jewish connections. She insisted I attend Religious school and also Jewish youth groups. She taught me courage by facing her breast cancer with grace and dignity. My father had a third grade education. Yet he studied page of Talmud everyday of his life. He taught me the importance of history.
Work
In 2017, I joined with Rabbi Moshe Heyn to provide a weekly virtual davvening experience for my community. Temple Israel of Greater Miami. This was featured in the local Sun-Sentinel newspaper.
In 2019, I was honored to be elected as co-president of the Rabbinic Pastor Association of Ohalah, the professional organization Jewish Renewal clergy.
In June 2020, I presented a public webinar on behalf of Jewish Community Services on grief and loss during the time of COVID. (Scroll down to view.)
In July 2020, I began to facilitate a weekly zoom discussion of Tehillim (Psalms) for Temple Israel.
In October 2020 I began co-facilitating a caregiver support group with the Greater Miami Jewish Federation.
Gratitude
Family
My spouse, Nancy Dreyfuss, is my best friend and my partner. I could not have attended ALEPH without her continued support. My black lab Jake attended just about every class with me. The blessings of Zoom classes are that he was always with me. Atle Vere, my not-adopted son, tutored me patiently week after week. There is a story of a rabbi who taught his student 400 times and when the student made a mistake the rabbi would patiently teach another 400 times. That is Atle.
Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l
When I was just about to graduate with my MSW, I met a student of Reb Zalman. I was introduced to Age-ing to Sage-ing. Later I would meet another student of Reb Zalman’s who would increase that passion in Jewish Renewal. As I studied more and was introduced to Reb Zalman and his teachings, I discovered that he was in the same detention camp as my family. I can only imagine that their paths crossed. I am greatly influenced by his teachings on davvenology, Age-ing to Sage-ing and Deep Ecumenism.
My Teachers & ALEPH
I am so appreciative of the teachings and the guidance of Rabbi Marcia Prager. Even before joining the AOP I learned so much from her and Hazzan Jack Kessler though her book and her videos. I spent the last five years davvening with them, Rabbi Shawn Zevit and Rabbi Shir Yakov Feit. I am also grateful to Rabbinic Pastors Shulamit Fagan and Sandra Wortzel for their guidance as my DOSot (Directors of Study). I am grateful to my spiritual advisor R’ Shaya Isenberg. I am grateful to Rabbi Shulamit Sapir for her teaching and support all of these years. I am also thankful to Rabbi Victor Gross for helping find a path in my Jewish practice. Finally, my fellow Rabbinic Pastor, Rabbinical and Hazzanim students for being my teachers. AND I am grateful for my DLTI-10 cohort for teaching me to risk being a leader.
And thank you to Ming for always being there with “divine intervention” whenever I needed him.
Temple Israel of Greater Miami
My synagogue has been my support through the deaths of my parents. They have been supportive as I have gone on this journey. Thank you to the Board of Trustees and Cantorial Soloist Karen Pincus for allowing me to step into a leadership role while we were without a rabbi. Thank you to Rabbi Moshe Tom Heyn for being supportive of my ideas. Thank you to my Friday Shabbat friends. Thank you to my Hevruta at Joseph’s Table with fond remembrance of those who have left this world: Frank Kabak, Ruth Marks, Perry Levin, Sarah Nelson. Mostly thank you to my beloved friend, Dr. Joan Bornstein for her love and support. In 2019, I was honored with the Or Zarua award.
Jewish Community Services of Greater Miami
Thank you to the Holocaust Survivors of Miami for sharing their stories with me. For allowing me to be in their homes and their lives. Thank you to the Behavioral Health Division Directors who gave me the honor of giving a quarterly d’var torah and being supportive of this effort. Thank you to the Holocaust Survivor Assistance Program team for collaborating with me to help Holocaust Survivors in Miami Dade County.
Jackson Medical Center
Thank you to the pastoral care team at Jackson Medical Center led by Dr. Reverend Jacqueline Kelley. I am grateful for the experience of working in the hospital in the midst of COVID.
Workshop on Grief and Loss in the Time of COVID. Click the arrow to watch.
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