Why I Became a Jewish Communal Professional

This was not the plan.  In truth, I never really thought about working in the Jewish community, didn’t really even realize there were people who did this as a living.  I mean, of course there were, but my involvement in the community was always as a volunteer and I just didn’t consider that it could be a profession.

Right out of college, I started a professional career in the marketing department of an architecture firm and thought I would see where that would lead me.  Soon, my professional plans were replaced with my focus on being a mother and while a job was still important, a career wasn’t.  And the next 12 years was spent working a part-time job for a financial advisor.  Somewhere in the middle of that, my volunteering nature steered me in the direction of a potential new school (Ohr Chadash Academy) that was being started by a group of parents after the closing of Yeshivat Rambam.  I wanted in.  And in I got. As a grassroots effort, with limited paid staff, I was able to provide real support in various capacities.  As the school grew, I stepped back from the day to day and focused on my role as a lay leader.  I was slowly realizing I found a lot of meaning in this work and at the same time, becoming bored with my day job. 

I found my passion in education and looked for a job, outside the Jewish community, in school administration. During that process, I saw an open position at the Center for Jewish Education.  It wasn’t quite the role I wanted but I decided to apply.  I was offered the position and took the job.  Already I began to feel like my worlds were coming together – everything I was doing as a volunteer for OCA and all the knowledge I had gained about education in that capacity was now helping me in my professional world which was working with and supporting the Jewish schools in Baltimore. 

I finally realized that this is where I was meant to be – fusing my passions for supporting the Jewish community and education.  I now work as the Director of Strategic Operations at Jewish Educational Services, a program of The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore.  While not a volunteer role, I am contributing to the community and helping to make it a better Jewish Baltimore, which truly fuels me everyday.